AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/06/2003 09:32:00 PM
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&236;               Small i, acute accent
&237;               Small i, grave accent
&238;               Small i, circumflex accent
&239;   
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/27/2003 03:40:00 PM
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BODY:
Stupid server's down, so posting here.

I've survived my midterms, which is a good thing, but I'm not looking forward to full days of classes again.

This morning was quite an experience.

I drifted in and out of sleep for q. some time, with my subconscious flitting from one otherworldly storyline to another.  I finally woke up around 9:45 and read a chapter or two of <i>Lucky</i>.  I showered, ate breakfast, and left for the bus stop.  [My mater was at a doctor's appointment, so she couldn't drive me to school.]  When I was about a block away, I heard someone calling my name.  I turned around and saw Julia Black, who lives behind me and with whom I used to be close friends.  We don't really talk anymore, but we both had not taken the afternoon bus for midterms before and we weren't sure what time it came.

We walked to Maple & Spear, which was a block away from our normal bus stop and where I was pretty sure Allison had said the bus had picked her up.  For a few minutes we waited there, but then decided the bus was not coming.  We walked to Adrienne's house, which was right by the bus stop, and Julia knocked on the door.  No one answered.  We started to head back to Julia's house, so I could call and see if my mum had gotten home yet.  We passed our usual bus stop on the way, and a kid was waiting there.  Julia yelled and asked him if he had taken the bus before.  He said he had and that the bus should be here any moment.

Julia confided that she would be more inclined to trust him if he didn't miss the bus every other morning; she said she always saw him running after the bus and that it never stopped.  But we waited there at the bus stop.  I hadn't had a chance to blowdry my hair, so it was still wet, and it was so cold that it literally froze.  Not a fun thing.  I tried to fingercomb the ice out, but that just made my fingers numb.  I hadn't been able to find my gloves that morning, which I really regretted.  [When I got home, I realised my gloves were on my bedside table, where I left them last night.  So. Absent. Minded.]

The bus didn't come, but a minivan pulled up.  Michelle Oomen, my bestfriend when I was little [she's a year older than me and her sister, Sam, is a year younger— they used to live with their grandmother really nearby, and we played all the time until Julia moved in, who was my age and smarter than Michelle and Sam], was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Do you want a ride?" Michelle asked.  Julia and I exchanged looks.  Mimi Miller [who smokes and whom I remember telling on in third grade because she stole chips from the cafeteria] was in the driver's seat.  Michelle reassured us that she would be driving; she was just letting Mimi try it.  Julia was leaning towards "no," so Michelle said they'd go pick up people from Mimi's house and come back to see if we still were there.  We nodded and they drove off.

It was v. cold, and the bus didn't appear to be coming.  Julia said she hoped they did come back, and I agreed.  We huddled in the cold for some time, and then the minivan returned.  Michelle was driving this time, with Mimi in the passenger seat and there were five other people in the car.  There was one seat free in the back, so I got in, and Julia had to sit on my lap.  As we were getting in, someone asked if we minded if they smoked.  I was tempted to say "Yes, I do mind, smoking is really foul, and you'll all have lung cancer by the time you're thirty," but I refrained, and Julia said she didn't mind, but knowing Julia, I bet she did mind.

For the whole ride to school, I was deathly afraid that we would be pulled over by cops for smoking or for having too many people in the car or for some reason or another.  Michelle stopped at the Mobil station to try to buy some cigarettes, but from what I could tell, they wouldn't give her any.  Rap music was blaring.  The guy I was sitting next to had a lighter and kept flicking it on and off.  He had linked hands with the girl on his opposite side, who was "truth or dare"ing people.  She dared the guy, Phil, in the seat in front of us, to hook up with the girl sitting next to him, Vanessa.  When he refused, she called him a pussy repeatedly.  Then she asked the guy sitting next to her, I didn't catch his name, if he was giving her a ride home.  Phil told her that if a guy gives a girl a ride, she's got to give him head while he's driving.  Phil also called some guy at Mobil a "Chink."  A v. pleasant person, that Phil.

Mimi told the girl in the backseat to dare her, that she would do anything.  The girl dared her to hook up with Phil, so she did.  Then Mimi asked Phil to see his dick.  He made as if to unzip his pants, and I averted my eyes, but then he said something like, "I only take it out if I'm going to get a blowjob."

Eventually, to my extreme relief, we got to school.  Someone had parked in Michelle's parking spot, so she parked in a handicapped space.  Julia and I thanked Michelle for the ride, then hurried into the building.  The bell was about to ring in a minute; I went to my locker, put my coat in, then went up the stairs to my German class. The bell rang before I got there, but thankfully Frauie is very lenient with us and didn't even notice that I came in late, anyway.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/11/2003 04:16:00 PM
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<a href="http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/" target="_blank">Death Stalks a Continent</a>
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/world/issues/aidsinafrica/" target="_blank">AIDS in Africa</a>

Those were the two sites we visited yesterday in world civ.  It's really v. sad.  I fear for the future of the world.  =(

Hee.  Our school computers were being dumb, and the second link wasn't loading properly, so our teacher told us to type it into google and click on it from there.  That worked for me, but the girl sitting next to me [who will remain nameless to protect the innocent] was still having problems.  I told her to type the URL into google and went back to minding my own business.  A few minutes later I look over at her computer screen and see that she's at google and had typed in "euro" in the search box.  I realise [after a few seconds] that she misheard me and say clearly "type in the YOU-ARE-ELL."  She writes in "uro," and I realise she is completely computer-illiterate, even though in seventh grade we definitely took a computer class and learned that URL = uniform resource locator.  Finally I point to the URL on the paper and say "type this in to the box."   She does and makes it to the site at last.

Btw, the point of this story is not OHOHOHO, I'M SO MUCH SMARTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, LAUGH AT THE SILLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT URL IS.  It is more OHOHOHO, KATE IS SUCH AN IDIOT, SHE ASSUMES EVERYONE SPENDS ALL THEIR FREE TIME WASTING AWAY IN FRONT OF A MACHINE LIKE SHE DOES.

This morning I went to Krysta's house, and we videotaped our project for German.  I was <a href="http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/pauline.html" target="_blank">Paulinchen</a>, the little German girl who sets herself on fire while her parents are out.  My group [Krysta, Becky, Megan] made me wear Krysta's little sister's "Southern Belle" Halloween costume, which was too short, didn't close properly in the back [I had to wear a shawl over it], and didn't acommodate my boobs v. well; painted red circles on my cheeks and put blue face paint above my eyes; and put my hair in pigtails.  They said I looked "cute," but really it was horribly embarrassing, and we're going to have to watch it in German on Monday, and I'm going to cry.

But don't worry, Becky had to wear a Tigger suit and Megan was wearing a Charmander costume with a bunny hat.  :D  It really was v. amusing.  And even if I will be embarrassed, it's not a big deal because I don't care about the opinion of anyone in my German class except my teacher, and she will <3 it; KT, and she is too nice to make fun of me; and my group, who has already seen it.

Oh, and la belle dame Beki has a n00 <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">layout</a>, which is blue and loffly.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/10/2003 05:45:00 PM
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BODY:
I watched Zeffirelli's <i>La Boheme</i> this afternoon.  The music was beautiful, of course, but I had a hard time believing the stout opera singers were my favourite starving Bohemians.  This exhausted me so much that I had to take a three-hour nap.  And now I'm going to my aunt's birthday celebration.  Toodlepip!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/10/2003 11:54:00 AM
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BODY:
Towards the end of second period this morning I started to get bad cramps in a major way [they haven't been this bad since <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/blog.php?see=2002_06_30_archive.php#78423226">then</a>].  I snuck off to the bathroom to take some ibuprofen that I'd smuggled in, but it did no good.  The cramps got worse instead of better, so in the middle of third period I asked to go to the nurse.  It was academic access English and we were talking about colleges, which I didn't want to miss, but I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't really concentrate on what Mr Beagle was saying anyway.

So I barely made it to the health suite [I felt really dizzy, and I kept worrying I would faint in the middle of the hallway and be trampled on when the bell rang], and the nurse had me lie down.  Lying down didn't help much, but it was an improvement over sitting in class.  I guess I must have dozed off, and when I woke up again, my cramps were gone.  The nurse came in and said my mum was coming to pick me up.  I didn't really think I was so sick that I needed to be sent home, but hey, I wasn't going to argue with the trained professional.  Plus, I think I scared her because I overheard her talking to my dad on the phone, and she was like, "Katherine doesn't feel well at all; she came in feeling light-headed and was as white as a sheet."  And she went to my locker for me and made sure Mutti parked as close as possible to the school.

And now my cramps are gone, and I'm loafing about on the Internet.  :D  A happy ending for all.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/09/2003 09:18:00 PM
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BODY:
Remember how I always say the world would be so much better if I were in charge?

Well, now I have my own <a href="http://www.nationstates.net" target="_blank">nationstate</a>!

<b>The Queendom of <a href="http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=almeda" target="_blank">Almeda</a>
"Semel insanivimus omnes."</b>

<b>UN Category</b>: Left-Leaning College State 
<b>Civil Rights</b>: Superb <b>Economy</b>: Good <b>Political Freedoms</b>: Excellent 

<b>Location</b>: Turpitudia
The Queendom of Almeda is a tiny, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its absence of drug laws. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 6 million enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.

The large, liberal government juggles the competing demands of Social Welfare, Education, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 24%. A substantial private sector is dominated by the Book Publishing industry.

The latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller. Crime is relatively low. Almeda's national animal is the cow and its currency is the Boe.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/09/2003 06:25:00 PM
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BODY:
You know, I think 2003 promises to be a good year.  Keep up with the praise, y'all, it makes my heart happy.  :D

"your daughter is amazing!  My god!   She is so wise!  Quick, tell me some stories about how infantile she acts around the house before I shrivel in shame." [sent to my mother in response to the forwarding of my advice on protecting yr children from inappropriate material on l'Internet]

"My dear, how did you get so wise?  You are marvelous." [sent to me in response to blah blah blah advice blah inappropriate blah blah Internet]

For those of you old school Almedablog fans, remember last spring when I took a drawing class at <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tyler/" target="_blank">Tyler</a>?  Well, my art teacher gave me another half scholarship [full tuition is $220, so $110 plus $40 registration fee] this year, so if I can trix0r one [or more] of my aunts into providing the beans, bucks, cabbage, capital, cash, coinage, dineros, dough, ducats, finances, funds, green stuff, legal tender, loot, moolah, pesos, and/or wampum, then I shall most likely attend, despite the fact that I distinctly recall whingeing every week last year about having to get up early on a Saturday.  Only this year I'll take it at <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tyler/" target="_blank">Moore</a> and maybe I'll take afternoon classes.

Had my mater sign the permission slip so next fall I'll have my own real, live GERMAN EXCHANGE STUDENT™ for three weeks.  And then the following summer, before senior year, I guess, I'll get to go to Germany.  =)

Also:  guys, <a href="http://bagendinn.com/sniper470.htm" target="_blank">shirtlessness</a> is the way to go.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/08/2003 09:31:00 PM
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BODY:
If you bought a CD, cassette, or vinyl at a retail store between 1995 and 2000, you have the opportunity to receive from $5 to $20.  File a <a href="http://www.musiccdsettlement.com/english/default.htm" target="_Blank">claim</a>, y0.

Also, <a href="http://www.studentsfororwell.org/" target="_blank">war is peace</a>.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/08/2003 06:30:00 PM
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BODY:
"Have I discussed with you my new vegetarian status? I have decided to stop eating dead animals. I've always toyed with the idea of going vegetarian, but I was too lazy to actually make the sacrifice. But now I am serious about it. In fact, we stopped at McDonald's the other day and all I got was a salad [though it had meat [?!] in it, so I gave it to Colin...] and fries. And my mother served jambalaya a few nights ago and I only ate the rice for the chicken is a noble and intelligent bird, and I did not wish to consume its flesh. I AM A VEGETARIAN OF POWER. I CRUSADE FOR THE LIVES OF OUR FELLOW ANIMALS. MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA."
~ Almeda, <a href="?see=2002_01_06_archive.php#8522570">01-08-02</a>

Yes, 'twas one year ago to the day that I announced my vegetarianism.  =)  I'm awfully proud of myself for having made it this far, and I think I've progressed as well, actually.  I mean, come on, a salad that I didn't even eat and McDonald's fries soaked in beef flavouring?  Lame.

"I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals."
~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

<a href="http://www.ivu.org/" target="_blank">International Vegetarian Union</a>: all kinds of good stuff here.  <i>Jeg elsker dyr, så jeg spiser dem ikke</i>.

"Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own."
~ Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) 

"There are only animal, but no vegetarian sources of Vitamin B12, this is why herbivores such as rabbits meet their Vitamin B12 requirements by eating plants that are infested with insects, or by eating their own feces, while in ruminants (sheep, cows), the microbes fermenting and digesting plant material in the rumen (the first stomach), incorporate cobalt into Vit B12, which is subsequently absorbed and utilized," warns <a href="http://www.acu-cell.com/veg.html" target="_blank">Nutritional pros and cons of Meat-based and Vegetarian Diets</a>.  Don't worry, though.  I eat vitamins.  In our cupboard there's a bottle of B vitamins which provide you with 833% daily value of B12 per tablet.  The craziest one, though, is Thiamin: 3333% daily value, followed by Riboflavin at 2841%.

"I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world - if we are superior to it."
~ Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) 

<a href="http://www.famousveggie.com/" target="_blank">Famous vegetarians</A> include: Alice Walker, Buddha, Chelsea Clinton, Dan Castellaneta, Elvis Costello, Fiona Apple [vegan], Guy Pearce, H.G. Wells, India.Arie, John Astin, Kim Basinger, Louisa May Alcott, Mary Tyler Moore, Natalie Merchant, Plutarch, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sir Isaac Newton, Tobey Maguire, Upton Sinclair, Vincent Van Gogh, and Weird Al Yankovic [vegan].  My personal favourite is Ian McKellen.  :D

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

<a href="http://www.vegkitchen.com/" target="_blank">In a Vegetarian Kitchen</a>:  recipes galore.  :D

"Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends."
~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

<a href="http://www.vegblog.org/" target="_blank">The Veg Blog</a>: "commentary on cookbooks, restauarant recommendations, recipes, links, and news items mixed in with a dash of sarcasm."

"Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more."
~ Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

Disclaimer:  This is not meant to be preachy; this is a celebration of a personal choice.  Vegetarianism feels right for me, but it may not for you.  That's okay— I can dig that.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/07/2003 08:45:00 PM
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BODY:
AHHHHHH!!!!!!1111111one  Lifesize cardboard cutout <a href="http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0406.html" target="_blank">hobbitses</a>!!!!11111111one

My birthday's just around the corner, hinthint, nudgenudge, winkwink.  There's also an alleged Aragorn one, with "picture coming soon."  Squee!

Today in Latin, before class began I was looking at a book belonging to Whit [William Lance Edward Whitney, the young man who sits in front of me] entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/076071018X/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>How to Insult, Abuse & Insinuate in Classical Latin</i></a>.  Mr Kummer passed by my desk, spotted me browsing it and asked if I wanted a copy.  I naturally said I would, so he rummaged through his cabinets, found a copy of the book, and gave it to me, shaking my hand and saying it was my prize for being such a super student.  V. v. kind of him.

It's one crazy book.  Some of the quotes are misogynistic [*], and some are just plain weird[**], but all of them are delightful[***].

*<i>Bona uxor suave ductust, si sit usquam gentium ubi ea possit inveniri</i>: To take a good woman as your wife is a marvellous thing— or at least it would be if there was anywhere on earth you could find one.  Plautus, Miles Gloriosus.

** <i>De cathedra quotiens surgis — iam saepe notavi — pedicant miserae, Lesbia, te tunicae quas cum conata es dextra, conata sinistra vellere, cum lacrimis eximis et gemitu: sic constringuntur gemina symplegade culi, ut nimias intrant cyaneasque natis</i>:  Whenever you get up from your chair— I've spotted this several times already— your unfortunate robe sodomises you, Lesbia.  You try your hand at yanking it out, first with the right, then with the left, but withdrawal can only be won with tears and screams.  The twin peaks of your posterior exert this vice-like grip on whatever enters the superabundance of your granite buttocks.  Martial, Epigrams X1.99

*** <i>Gratuito potius malus atque crudelis erat</i>: He was gratuitously nasty, mean and cruel, whenever possible.  Sallust, Bellum Catilinae.

My body began to reboot its <A href="http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_04.20.00/columns/necro.html" target="_blank">Ovarian Operating System</a> today, so to honour it I ordered some <a href="http://www.lunapads.com/" target="_blank">Lunapads</a>, even though I won't get them for two weeks.

"What are Lunapads?" you cry, O curious reader thirsting for knowledge.  Well, Lunapads are special pads made of cotton that can be washed and reused!  Advantages of this include:  better for the environment [creates less waste than using disposable pads], better for my wallet [well, my parents' wallet, actually, but the point is that it's cheaper], and the money I do spend goes to support Real Women.  :D

"One month I had pretty bad pains and took some ibuprofen.  The following month, the pain was even worse.  Then I did an experiment.  Some months I took pain relievers and some months, I didn't.  Every time, the month <i>after</i> I took the pain relievers, I'd have, as Holiday Golightly would say, the Mean Reds.

"Though the medication brought <i>immediate</i> relief, the following period was excruciating.  Taking menstrual-pain drugs became a vicious cycle.  I never realized it before, and it was so obvious once I saw it, but I needed more and more ibuprofen to keep the pain at bay each month."  ~Inga Muscio, <i>Cunt</i>

I've noticed this happening with me.  Each month I need more ibuprofen to get through the day.  I really would like to be able to break the cycle and not take any pain relievers ever again, but I haven't yet figured out how one would go about doing this.  My cramps are excruciatingly painful.  When I'm cramping, I cannot focus on anything else.  This is especially problematic during school, when one needs to concentrate on what one is learning.  So if I don't take ibuprofen, how do I make the pain go away?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/07/2003 05:55:00 PM
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BODY:
<i>Tell ten people.

And tell them to tell ten people.

We'll change the world.</i>

"We believe that as people living 
in the United States it is our 
responsibility to resist the injustices 
done by our government, 
in our names 

"Not in our name 
will you wage endless war 
there can be no more deaths 
no more transfusions 
of blood for oil 

"Not in our name 
will you invade countries 
bomb civilians, kill more children 
letting history take its course 
over the graves of the nameless 

"Not in our name 
will you erode the very freedoms 
you have claimed to fight for . . ."
~ <a href="http://www.notinourname.net/" target="_blank">Not In Our Name</a>

<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>: "Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community"

"An attack on Iraq will have nothing to do with stopping terrorism. It will have nothing to do with the liberation of the Iraqi people. And it will be only marginally concerned with weapons of mass destruction. Instead, this will be a war to extend and deepen U.S. control over the energy-rich Middle East, the single most important source of strategic power in an industrial world that runs on oil."
~ <a href="http://www.shinybluegrasshopper.com/nowar/" target="_blank">Attack Iraq?  No!</a>

<a href="http://www.moveon.org/nowar/" target="_blank">MoveOn.org</a>

<a href="http://www.endthewar.org/" target="_blank">End The War</a> - "The National Network to End the War Against Iraq is a nation-wide coalition of over 140 peace and justice, student and faith-based organizations united to work for a common cause: ending the illegal, unjust, and inhumane war being waged against the people of Iraq by member states of the United Nations, led by the United States."

<a href="http://www.truthout.org/" target="_blank">TruthOut.org</a>

"War with Iraq won't make us safer. A unilateral attack by the United States will inflame anti-U.S. sentiment and may stimulate more attacks by extremists." ~<a href="http://www.afsc.org/iraq/guide/10reasons.shtm" target="_blank">10 Reasons to Oppose the War with Iraq</a>

<a href="http://www.votenowar.org/" target="_blank">VoteNoWar.org</a>

"At the end of our march, the protest leader told us to keep making a difference. He told us to write letters and heighten awareness. He told us to educate our peers and friends. He told us to tell ten people. And tell them to tell ten people. We'll change the world."   ~<a href="http://deepinsidejoke.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mario</a>

Tell ten people.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/06/2003 06:35:00 PM
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BODY:
Here's something that I enjoy:  praise.

In art today we began adding colour to our self-portraits with oil pastel.  I was doing it very liberally and was a bit nervous about it, but Ms C held mine up and was like, "This is what you should be doing," so I was like squee!  :D  *self-esteem balloon inflates*

And not only do I 0wnz0r oil pastels, I am also le goddess of MS Paint: <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/elly.gif" target="_blank">Elly</a> and <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/trendsetterdom.gif" target="_blank">Dom</a> action figures.  :D  Prolly only amusing if you're me or Elly, but the proles may admire my artistic skillz.  ;P

One year ago today I saw FoTR for the second time.

Forty-nine days until my sixteenth birthday.

Also, merry day of Epiphany, if you celebrate that sort of thing.  I bet Mimi does, devout Catholic that she is.  Talking of Mimi, <a href="http://jesus.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">NEW LAYOUT</a>.

ABBEY IS COOL.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/05/2003 07:27:00 PM
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BODY:
It snowed, it snowed, it snowed!   O lovely, precious snow, how I adore thee.

Neil has some really pretty <a href="http://blinked.her-own-eyes.org/" target="_blank">pictures</a> up.  *jealous of the sexiness that is Neil's digital camera*

I downloaded & listened to a <a href="http://www.justicetalking.org/getshow.asp?showid=219" target="_blank">debate</a> about the legalization of prostitution this evening.  It was v. interesting.  I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, though I think I tend to lean towards legalization.

Tell me, is <a href="http://www.bagendinn.com/images/A-D/article_you_mainpic.jpg" target="_blank">this man</A> not absolutely loffly?  Le sigh.  Dominic Monaghan on my desktop and la vie est bonne.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/05/2003 12:56:00 PM
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BODY:
<a href="http://paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a> has a pretty new layout.  &lt;3  So does <a href="http://blinked.her-own-eyes.org/" target="_blank">Neil</a>.

And <a href="http://vortex.kiss-my.net/" target="_blank">she</a> tolly can read my mind, I swear.

<a href="http://www.myvag.net/index.shtml" target="_blank">This</a> is cool [thx to <a href=http://troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Beki</a> for the link], except I hate the word vagina.  It comes from the Latin word for scabbard or sheath.  As the cuntlovin' Inga Muscio said,  "Ain't got no vagina."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/05/2003 12:43:00 PM
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BODY:
I didn't blog, or even go on the computer, yesterday, though it's not as if I had anything better to do.

Woke up around eleven, ate breakfast, read a bit of <i>Lost</i>, watched the beginning of Laurence Olivier's <i>King Lear</i> with mother, grew bored, went back to reading <i>Lost</i>, ate dinner, watched <i>Dangerous Liaisons</i>, finished reading <i>Lost</i>, went to bed.

I really enjoyed <i>Dangerous Liaisons</i>: much better than <i>Cruel Intentions</i>.  John Malkovich was hot.  And I decided when I'm rich, I'm going to wear 18th century dresses all the time.  Except that would be rather pretentious and eccentric, so maybe just on special occasions.  And yeah, they're no doubt extremely uncomfortable, but they're so cool!

<i>Lost</i> was excellent as well.  I really love Gregory Maguire, although I think he's gay.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

<i>Winnie assumed the concept was beyond her, and maybe, really, the expectation of personal happiness was one of the especial sadnesses that democracy had ushered in.</i>
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/03/2003 04:17:00 PM
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BODY:
We got freezing rain this morning, but school was not cancelled.  However, I don't mind because I'm happyhappyhappy!

My academic access English class got our PSAT scores back third period, at long last.  I did v. well, if I do say so myself, which is a great relief because I was so very nervous.  First I read that book about how boys outdo girls on standardized tests in high school and then everyone was talking about how we did really poorly as a class this year, how we got the worst scores "in twenty years."

Verbal: 73
Math: 70
Writing Skills: 80

I scored higher than 99% of sophomores in verbal and writing skills and 98% of sophomores in math.  I also had 99 percentile in comparison to "college-bound juniors."  My selection index was 223, and the guidance counselor said you had to have higher than 200 to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship competition thingy.  Of course, only juniors are eligble for that, so I'll have to wait till next year.

:DDDDDDDDDD

Mr Beagle was like, "Who do y'all think had the highest score?" and everyone pointed to me, and he asked me what my score was, so I said "14," 'cause my brain had temporarily shut down.  And he said "Fourteen hundred?"  And I said "Thirty."

'cause if you add a zero to the verbal and math scores and put them together, you get your score on the SAT scale.  So 1430.  And that was, indeed, the highest score in the class, and Mr. Beagle was q. impressed, and I'm so very HAPPY.  xD
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/02/2003 06:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Well, the weather gods screwed me over again.  Thanks for nothing, guys!  But tonight we're supposed to get "a bit of snow, sleet and rain in the evening followed by a mix of snow, sleet and rain late."  Tomorrow will be "cool; snow and sleet in the morning followed by afternoon rain."  So I've still got hope.

Today actually wasn't that bad.  The initial getting out of bed part was intensely excruciatingly difficult, but once I made it past that, the rest of the day went by quite smoothly.  And tomorrow's Friday!!!!!!!111111111one

Life is so lovely.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/01/2003 09:29:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I finished reading <i>Failing At Fairness</i> today.  It was very interesting, which is such a bland thing to say, but it's tolly true.  Maybe fascinating is a better word.  Anyway, I'm definitely digging the non-fiction trend.  I really should read more non-fiction.  Knowledge/information = amazing stuff, which is so very Ravenclaw, but again tolly true.  So yes, y'all should go out and read <i>Cunt</i>, <i>Reviving Ophelia</i>, and this.  It makes me simultaneously sad and really angry, in a feminazi sort of way.  I almost want my teachers to be sexist now, so I can call them on it.  Also, we're getting our PSAT scores back on Friday, and apparently as a class we did really poorly.  Internalize success and externalize failure is my new motto, though.  If I do well, it's because I'm a genius.  If I do poorly, it's because the test is geared towards boys and my school is cheating me.  Doesn't that work out nicely?

<a href="http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/swastika.html" target="_blank">This</a> is really cool.  I'm tempted to start doodling swastikas everywhere.  I know <a href="http://www.swussian.com" target="_blank">she</a> does.  It's funny how a symbol can have so much meaning and how its meanings can be so very different.  For example, the swastika is 100% connected with Hitler and Nazis in my mind, but "in ancient days, the swastika was viewed as <a href="http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/4penis.gif" target="_blank">four penises penetrating a vagina</a>, the vagina of the goddess who constantly gives birth to the universe--thus making the swastika a symbol for tremendous creativity. Shiva's penis also expresses this creative, divine energy at the source of life."  Crazy-go-nuts.

Talking of everyone's favourite fascist German dictator of the mid-twentieth century, his <a href="http://www.auschwitz.dk/Albums6/album.htm" target="_blank">art</a> is not half bad.  The ones of buildings are especially nice.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 1/01/2003 07:49:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Happy new year!  :D  Welcome to 2003.

Last night was q. enjoyable.  When I arrived, <i>The Simpsons</i> was on, so we [Katie, Marisa, Marley, I] watched that and ate pizza.  Then we played Hilarium, Cranium,  watched the ball drop on teevee, drank sparkling cider, and ate cookies and brownies and chocolate.  And, of course, we watched the FoTR DVD.

Today we went to Barnes and Noble with Ryan, and that was also fun.  I like my friends, which is a Good Thing.

Erlack, I do not want to attend school tomorrow.  Maybe it'll snow.  *crosses fingers hopefully*
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/31/2002 06:20:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Many of you will be happy to note, I'm sure, that I'm not longer speaking in the third person.  This doesn't mean that I will never speak in third person again, it just means I've decided to be more free about my blogging.  Maybe some days I'll speak in first person, maybe some in third, and even, on very special occasions, in second.  Why?  Because I'm bored of the third person; it was cramping my style.  I was reading very old school blog entries a couple days ago, and they amused me.  So it's back to using "I."

Also, NEW LAYOUT, at long fricking last.  This was a joint effort, as I'm sure you can guess, between <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Eleanour</a> and me.  :D  Hee, I can use emoticons again.  /\/=;';/~*~-*-~*^___^*~-*-~*~*\;';=\/\

It's NEW YEAR'S EVE!  Nearly 2003, tra la la la.  Last year's new year's resolution was to get serious about resolutions next year.  I was planning to have a bunch of resolutions like "be nicer," "procrastinate less," and "don't expect life to be perfect because your fragile hopes and dreams always get CRUSHED on the rocky cliffs of reality, and you'll never be happy that way," but I decided that the fewer resolutions you have, the easier they are to keep.  So this year I have just one, again, and it's . . . *drum roll*

Be true to yourself.

This comes from reading <i>Reviving Ophelia</i>, and it's a little lame, but I think it's a good resolution to have.  I'm off to a sleepover chez KT, so see y'all next year!  *hugs&kisses*  &lt;3
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/30/2002 08:27:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<font size=2><b>Almeda Stalks <A href="http://www.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a></font></b>

The Lewis-Cheney family drove to the Wilkes-Barre area today to visit Almeda's mother's father, allegedly.  Of course, we all know that Almeda used her Jedi mind-tricks to suggest to her parents that they needed to go upstate and was hoping to sight Colin Baggins, whom she of course is madly in love with.  However, Almeda still needs more information to stalk him properly.  She saw a sign for "Hazleton," while Colin lives "not in Hazleton but very near it."

Almeda's family went out to dinner with the children's grandfather at a not-very-vegetarian-friendly restaurant.  Almeda ordered a salad, mozzarella sticks, and a slice of cheesecake, not a very balanced or nutritious meal, but Almeda ate it cheerfully without [much] complaint.  She was rewarded with New Year's money from her grandfather, which was very nearly worth the vile stench of cigarette smoke that has permeated every thread of Almeda's clothing, every pore of her skin, and every hair on her head.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/30/2002 08:00:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Is Not A Pretty Pretty Princess</font></b>

Last night Almeda attended a small gathering chez R. Collins, where attendants played <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000IWHP/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Pretty Pretty Princess</a>, an impossibly complicated <i>The Simpsons</i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004U30I/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">trivia game</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Q8M0/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Super Smash Bros. Melee</a>, and ate chocolate-covered pretzels.  An enjoyable time was had by all, as far as Almeda knows.

"I'm a little sad, a little disappointed that I didn't win Pretty Pretty Princess, but I'll survive.  Maybe.  Anyway, what's wrong with the black ring?  I kind of like the black ring; I don't see why you can't win if you have it.  Princesses wear black rings all the time, I'm sure.  Well, perhaps they don't, but I bet they rarely wear plastic jewelry or crowns either," says Almeda bitterly.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/29/2002 01:05:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Public Service Announcement: Rape Is Bad</font></b>

"Rape is a personal problem that cries out for a political solution.  The solution to our cultural problems of sexual violence lies not only in the treatment of individual victims and offenders, but also in changing our culture.  Young men need to be socialized in such a way that rape is as unthinkable to them as cannibalism.  Sex is currently associated with violence, power, domination and status.  The incidence of rape is increasing because because our culture's destructive messages about sexuality are increasing.

"Rape hurts us all, not just the victims.  Rape keeps all women in a state of fear about all men.  We must constantly be vigilant.  One day last winter I was cross-country skiing along a jogging trail.  A tall man dressed in a ski mask and a black jogging suit ran toward me.  It was dusk in a busy residential neighborhood, but his size and shape frightened me.  As he approached, he said my name and I realizied it was my own husband.

"Men are fearful for their women friends and family and aware that women are afraid of them.  A male student complained that he hated rape.  He said, "When I walk across campus after dark, I can see women tense up.  I want to reassure them I'm not a rapist."  Another said, "I haven't dated a girl yet who trusts men.  Every girl I've cared for has been hurt by some guy.  They are afraid to get close.  It's so much work to prove I'm not a jerk."

"But mostly rape damages young women.  They become posttraumatic stress victims.  They experience all the symptoms—depression, anger, fear, recurrent dreams and flashbacks.  The initial reaction is usually shock, denial, and dissociation.  Later comes anger and self-blame for not being more careful or fighting back.  Young women who are raped are more fearful.  Their invisible shield of invulnerabilty has been shattered.  Forty-one percent of rape victims expect to be raped again; 30 percent contemplate suicide; 31 percent go into therapy; 22 percent take self-defense courses and 82 percent say that they are permanently changed.

"Our daughters need time and protected places in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.  They need quiet time, talking time, reading time and laughing time.  They need safe places where they can go to learn about themselves and others.  They need places where they can take risks and make mistakes without fearing for their lives. They need to be valued for their personhood, not their bodies.

"Today girls are surrounded by sexual violence. We have emergency treatment for sexual casualties—therapists, hospitals, rape crisis centers and support groups.  But we also need a preventive program.  We need to work together to build a sexual culture that is sensible, decent and joyful."

-Mary Pipher, Ph.D. in <i>Reviving Ophelia</i>
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/28/2002 02:49:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Reading Consumes Almeda's Life</b></font>

Over the past few days Almeda has been reading her new books, sleeping, eating, loafing about on the computer, and having really strange dreams.  Not that she's complaining.  It beats waking up at six every morning for school.

Last night she read the first half of <i>Reviving Ophelia</i>.  "I'm really enjoying it," she says.  "It's strange: one page I'm laughing out loud and the next minute I'm nearly crying."

<i>One of my favorite families was the Boyds.  Bill was a warm-hearted man who played the ukelele and had formed our state's chapter of Men Against Rape . . . Bill could make anyone laugh.  He could cut the tension in a room of angry people with a joke or a song.  He gave everyone nicknames they wanted to keep forever.  Even though he was a socialist, Republicans liked him.</i>

"I giggled 'cause 'Bill Boyd' is one letter away from '<a href="http://www.billyboyd.net" target="_blank">Billy Boyd</a>,'" explains Almeda.  "But then, on the same page . . ."

<i>Abby got depressed in eighth grade.  She missed weeks of school because of allergies and stomach ailments.  Her grades fell and she dropped out of activities . . . Nan [the mother] had some family history of depression, but she'd never worried about it.</i>

"And I was just like, wow, that's me.  Except I got over my depression and am totally ownz0ring school where Abby did drugs and never went to college."

Almeda highly recommends this book to teenage girls and parents of teenage girls.  "Go out to your local independent bookstore and buy <i>Cunt</i>, then buy this."
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/27/2002 07:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Remember NaNoWriMo?</b></font>

In response largely to the nagging of <a href="http://www.amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</a>, Almeda has decided to release her unedited, piece of crap novel (if one can even call it that) to her nearest and dearest for "editing and critique purposes" (because she doesn't want to be too hasty about losing all rights to publish it, if in the rare case that she should ever want to.)  If you would like to read this pathetic excuse for a novel, please e-mail almeda at her-own-eyes dot org and she will send it back as an attachment or something.  Actually, let her know if you would like her to attach it as a Word document or if you would like to read it at a secret, password-protected, private to the mizzax Internet location. Of course, you'll have to sign away your soul to her if you want the latter, but don't let that discourage you.

Please at all times keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the bus, remember the circumstances under which this blight on literature was created, and above all don't get your hopes up.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/27/2002 06:00:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Does Nothing Terribly Constructive</font></b>

Last night Almeda saw a certain movie with her aunt, mother, & brother for the third time.  She spent this morning being delightfully unproductive and reading <i>Cunt</i>, an excessively splendid and inspiring and empowering book.  "I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but you MUSTMUSTMUST read it," Almeda proclaims, obviously a member of the "if you repeat something three times, it's more compelling" school of thought.  "It makes me want to buy LunaPads and throw a menarche party for my sister when she gets her first period and write a womanifesto and read Pippi Longstocking and start a revolution and CHANGE THE WORLD."

After that, her mother persuaded her to watch <i>His Girl Friday</i> with her, so Almeda did so, while eating Swedish fish, the candy of the gods.  Since then, nothing else particularly exciting has happened, although Almeda did put a lightbulb in her new lamp.  Winter break rocks.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/26/2002 12:12:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Has A Merry Atheist-Kids-Get-Presents Day*</font>  Or as some prefer to call it, Christmas</b>

On Christmas Eve Almeda decided she wanted to curl her hair, so after she took a shower, she twisted sections of her wet hair into little buns [there are no rollers in Almeda's house, so she had to go old school] until her head was entirely covered by little knots of hair.  She decided she rather liked the way this looked and decided to forget about the curls.  If you don't care about Almeda's hair, too bad.  "I have shortish hair, so it often seems like there is little to be done with it, so when I do do something with it, I get very excited," Almeda explains.

With her <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/cam.jpg" target="_blank">new hairstyle</a>, Almeda and family went downtown [note: when Almeda speaks of going "downtown," she means going to Philadelphia, in case you didn't realise] to see a Christmas pageant, in which her cousin played a Wise Man.  It leaned toward the boring, but Almeda behaved herself wonderfully, which is more than can be said for a certain younger sister of Almeda.

After the pageant, everyone went to Auntie Jane's house for Christmas Eve dinner.  When they left, it was snowing, which made Almeda very happy, but it wasn't sticking, which made Almeda very sad.

The next morning was Christmas!!!!!!!11111one  When Almeda got up, it was raining.  So much for a white Christmas.  Almeda's mother told her that at 3:00 in the morning snow was everywhere, and it looked quite pretty, but that wasn't much of a comfort.

After Almeda's father finally got up, everyone opened presents.  Almeda got books, some clothes, and some other stuff.  Almeda's sister, Nora, got a karaoke machine, which was quite cool.  Almeda & fam. spent some quality time karaokeing [Almeda loves verbing words].

Almeda had slept with the knots in her hair and at this point she took them out.  Her hair was superduper curly, nearly an Afro, except that Almeda is irredeemably white.  Almeda pulled back her hair in what she's always known as a Pollyanna, but only because she had this <a href="http://www.hairboutique.com/books/bookreview097.htm" target="_blank">book</a> when she was younger and that's what they called it.  That made it less crazy looking, which was a good thing.  Then everyone packed into the car and drove downtown to Jeff and Linda's.  Jeff and Linda are not technically family, but they might as well be, and it's tradition to eat Christmas brunch at their house.

There Almeda got more presents and ate some yummy banana bread and quiche.  "And while we were there, it started to snow!" Almeda exclaims.  "But again, it wasn't sticking."

After brunch, Gram Apple, Jane, Almeda, Colin, Nora, and Leo walked to Jane's house, which was a Bad Idea.  Gram Apple's leg started to hurt her, and everyone got wet because at this point it was still snowing, but when it touched the ground it melted, so it was basically like rain.  The bottom of Almeda's jeans got wet, so at Jane's house she changed into sweat pants.  "I felt a little grungey, but they were really comfy, and it was just family, so who cares?" Almeda says.  "And there I read <i>The Importance of Being Earnest</i>, which was very much like the movie.  All the best lines were taken from the book for the movie, so excellent job, whoever wrote the screenplay for that."

After relaxing at Jane's house for a while, they went to Aunt Jackie's house for Christmas dinner.  "Yummy food, foosball, and more presents," says Almeda.  "Oh, and I pulled all of my wonderfully curly hair up in a ponytail at this point, in case you were keeping track."

Finally Almeda's family went home.  In the car, as they were driving home, Almeda noticed that there was snow on the ground.  "I was so excited!  'cause my dad had said that it was cooler in the suburbs than in the city, and he was right!  When we got home, there was snow everywhere!"

<b>Presents</b>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006093817X/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Watch Your Mouth</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345392825/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060393823/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Lost</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061020710/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Color of Magic</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375814655/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Lady Knight</i></a> (autographed!)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580050751/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Cunt: A Declaration of Independence</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316096199/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Lucky</i></a> (two copies ^^;)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068480073X/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls</i></a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003740/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Dig Me Out</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000HF6J/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Hot Rock</i></a>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000373S/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Docudrama</i></a>

money
a lamp [with a sexy stripey lampshade]
custom jewelry
Sleater-Kinney sticker, <a href="http://www.buyolympia.com/killrockstars/sid=186976946/Item=SKTOURT" target="_blank">monkey tee</a>
<a href="http://www.aveda.com/" target="_blank">Aveda</a> lip balm
socks
games [Twister, Hilarium]
other good stuff
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/24/2002 02:26:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Merry Two-Months-Till-Almeda's-Sixteenth-Birthday*! </font>Or as some prefer to call it, Christmas Eve</b>

"The most powerful Christmas storm in decades is roaring across the Midwest and Southeast and will smash into the Northeast Tuesday night and Wednesday, bringing an all-out snowstorm to some areas. The storm will reach its full intensity Christmas Day and Christmas night from Pennsylvania into New England, where some places will get over a foot of snow. The storm will cause huge travel delays and even some road and airport closures." -<a href="http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/headlines.asp?iws=0" target="_blank">accuweather.com</a>

<a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Beki</A> and <a href="http://jesus.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Mimi</A> and <a href="http://tiger.towson.edu/~rwilli13/" target="_blank">Yan</a> all have relatively new layouts.

<a href="http://www.bagendinn.com/images/bigparis3.jpg" target="_blank">I</a> <a href="http://delicious-blue.org/dominic/" target="_blank">heart</a> <a href="http://monaghan.deep-ice.com/" target="_blank">Dominic</a> <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/viggo04.jpg" target="_blank">Monaghan</a>.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/23/2002 05:06:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Tidies Room</b></font>

Almeda spent a good portion of today tidying her bedroom.  "It's still not perfect, but at least I can walk from my door to my computer to my bed without stepping on anything," said Almeda.  "And that's quite an accomplishment, let me tell you."

While she cleaned, Almeda listened to <i>La Boheme</i>, then the CD Sienna burned for her, a mix of some of Almeda's favourites.  "I've decided I really enjoy Michelle Branch," Almeda says. "She is teh r0x0r."

In addition to picking up all the crap (used not in the literal sense) off her floor, Almeda put up holiday cards on her wall (including the adorable one she got from <A href="http://blotts.org" target="_blank">Maddy</a> today), candy canes on her door, and stole some smallish branches from the winter solstice tree and put them on her door, computer, and window.  "It's oh-so-very festive," explains Almeda.

And that's about the only thing of interest that happened today in Almeda's life.  Ahh, winter break.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/22/2002 05:25:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Sun Stands Still</font></b>

The winter solstice for 2002 occurred today, December 22, 2002, at 1:14 <a href="http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/UT.html" target="_blank">UT</a>.  Solstice comes from the Latin words <i>sol</i> ("the sun") and <i>sistere</i> ("to stand still").  Many different religions celebrate the winter solstice (or other December holidays that are really the winter solstice in disguise).  <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm" target="_blank">Religioustolerance.com</a> writes "There has been a recent increase in solstice observances by Atheists in the U.S."

The <a href="http://www.ffrf.org/news/solsticesign.html" target="_blank">Freedom From Religion Foundation</a> erected a sign at the Wisconsin State Capitol that says:

"At this season of 
THE WINTER SOLSTICE
may reason prevail.

There are no gods, 
no devils, no angels,
no heaven or hell.
There is only
our natural world.
Religion is but
myth and superstition
that hardens hearts
and enslaves minds."

In Pennsylvania Almeda's family erected their winter solstice tree.  Almeda's parents still feel the need to celebrate the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun, so she shan't be receiving presents until December 25.

She did receive the <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/cat.jpg" target="_blank">cat</a> she painted at <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/blog.php?see=2002_12_15_archive.php#86035200">Allison's birthday party</a>.  It is q. cute, and she's v. happy with how it turned out.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/22/2002 03:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Attends a Ballet, Meets Percy Weasley</font></b>

Last night Almeda, her mother, and R. Collins went all the way to New Jersey to see a performance of <i><a href="http://www.sjlivearts.com/index.html" target="_blank">The Nutcracker</a></i>.  "We were going to get a ride with KT, but her brother came home from college yesterday and some such nonsense," explains Almeda.  "So I convinced my mother to drive."  Their mutual friend Mike was a rat, and his father played Drosselmeyer.

"I'm not a big fan of ballet, but it was nice.  The dancing was crazy-good, and I loved the music.  Of course, the occasional boredom during the production was <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">tolly</a> worth it when we went out after the end and met Mike.  Because of the KT affair, he had thought we couldn't come, so when he saw us his face lit up.  It was lovely; he's such a sweetheart.  And he took us backstage, and we met some of the dancers.  There was this one red-haired guy who the mater said looked like Percy Weasley, and I got to shake his hand.  And shut up, <a href="http://www.spoinky.net" target="_Blank">Nina</a>, but he was cute.

"The car ride was enjoyable as well, when we weren't incorrectly following the directions.  I got to talk with Ryan, who is, as my mother said quite a few times, 'a good guy.'  He really is the ubercool.  I mean, how many [heterosexual] boys do you know who talk about how beautiful the moon is?  I really enjoy his conversation, and I'm not intimidated by him like I used to be.  Literally, I used to think he was basically an infallible genius, and I always felt stupid around him.  But now I know he's a normal person, just like the rest of us.  Perhaps a little brighter than the average crayon but a v. nice guy."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/22/2002 12:27:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Sees <i>The Two Towers</i> Again</font></b>

When Almeda arrived home from school on Friday, December 20, 2002, her mother told her they were going downtown for a tree-trimming party that night.  Almeda, who often plans things without notifying her parents first, exclaimed, "What?!  I'm seeing TTT tonight!"  Almeda and her mother discoursed for a while and decided that Almeda could go to the party for a little while and take the train back out to the suburbs for the movie.  Now Almeda just had to notify her friends, but KT was babysitting and Marisa was at swim practice.  After much frantic phone-calling, Almeda sent out an e-mail to KT&Marisa with the numbers of her aunts' houses where she would be.

Then Almeda and family drove downtown to the house of Aunt #1.  Almeda's mother had been under the impression that Almeda's cousin was in a Christmas pageant that night, but to the great relief of Almeda & siblings, it had been postponed.  So they hung out at Aunt #1's house for a while, then around 7 went to Aunt #2's house, where the tree-trimming party was.  Almeda had not been there long when Aunt #2 said, "Oh, your friend Marisa left a message on the machine."  Almeda promptly called Marisa and got all the details.

They were seeing a 9:30 showing, which meant Almeda had to get on a train ASAP.  Almeda's mother drove her speedily to <a href="http://www.galleryatmarketeast.com/" target="_blank">Market East</a>, but the 7:40 train was pulling out just as Almeda arrived.  With frustration Almeda found a train schedule and learned that the next train was at 7:55.  Almeda had to call Marisa to ask if this would be okay, for the train would arrive in Glenside at 8:17 and Marisa had said they meant to leave at 8.  However, Almeda had no change; only bills.  She fished a one dollar bill out of her purse and went up to a man with headphones.  "Do you have change?" she asked, holding up the dollar.  He shook his head and walked away.  Almeda sulked.  Then she saw the man put a hand in his pocket and pull out a bunch of coins.  He came back and gave her four quarters.  She gave him the dollar bill and thanked him, then hurried to the pay phone.  It said 50 cents, so she put in two quarters and dialed Marisa's number.

The phone told her to put in 35 cents for a minute of phone time.  Almeda put another quarter warily in.  It asked her for ten cents more.  Sighing, she put in her last quarter.  As the phone rang, a voice came on the speakerphone announcing that the 7:55 train would be arriving at platform so-and-so.  Marisa picked up the phone and Almeda explained that she missed the last train but would it be okay if she took the next one?  Marisa said it would be, and Almeda hung up the phone and dashed off, boarding the train just in time.

Almeda arrived at the Glenside train station sometime around 8:17.  She looked around but did not spot anyone she recognised.  "Hmm," she thought.  "Maybe they're on the other side."  She hurried down one flight of stairs, then went up another, arriving on the other side of the train tracks.  She wandered about but did not see anyone.  During this time a train had pulled into the station, so she couldn't see across the tracks.  "Hmm," she thought and walked down the platform as far as she could, so she could just see around the train.  "Aha!"  There was Marisa.  Almeda ran back to the stairs, went down them, went up the other flight and hurried towards Marisa.  "MARISA!"  she called.  Marisa did not turn around.  "MARISAAAAAA!"  Marisa turned around and saw her.  "YAY!" exclaimed Marisa.  Or that's probably what she was thinking, anyway.  They both got into Marisa's father car, where Marisa's father, KT, and Ryan Collins were waiting.  "Hi!" said Almeda.  "Sorry about that.  When I got here you weren't there, so I went round to look on the other side."

They all forgave her because they are loving and forgiving people, and off they went to see <i>The Two Towers</i>.

"Since I saw it at 9:30 this time (as opposed to 4:30) the age of the average audience member was higher," says Almeda.  "This made for a different experience.  For example, when the title came on screen, everyone cheered.  Then at the opening shot of mountains, someone yelled, 'YEAH, MOUNTAINS!!!!111one' Some people might find that annoying," she gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like 'My mother.'  "But I was q. amused.  And then when the camera zoomed in on Legolas, someone towards the back went, 'Rrrowr!' or a similar sound that means 'OMG WHAT A SEXMUFFIN!'  Then there was a close-up of Gimli and some guy in the front was like, 'YEAH!  WHOO!!!11one'  That was highly amusing.  It was a fun audience.

"Overall the CG was great [at one point I noticed that Gollum had fine light hairs on his shoulder and chest, and it just boggled the mind to imagine how much time/effort they spent on making him look realistic], but the one weak part, I think, was the Gandalf and the Balrog bit.  When Gandalf lands on the Balrog as they're both falling, and they start fighting, that was blah.  But then it's just Frodo dreaming, so I can forgive it.  I mean, he's a hobbit, he can't be expected to have top-notch special effects in his dreams.

"Merry and Pippin were just as great the second time.  I adored Pippin's face when Treebeard opens his eyes.  Squee!

"Éowyn's smile when Theoden was freed from Sarumon reminded me of <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Beki</a>, for some reason.  It was the mouth.  I dunno.

"Talking of Beki, is it just me or is Frodo completely useless?  He throws himself into the Dead Marshes, Sam has to shout 'Frodo!' and Gollum pulls him out.  Then when the Ringwraith is flying overhead, he just lays out in the open, and Sam has to drag him to safety.  Faramir tries to take the ring from him, Frodo goes and cries in the corner, Sam yells at Faramir.  Frodo goes to put the ring on when the Ringwraith is flying towards him, Sam has to run up and stop him.  Noticing a pattern here?  I mean, yeah, the Ring's corrupting him et cetera, but really.

"I agree with KT: two saddest parts = poor little boys getting geared up for war and Haldir's death.

"I <3<3<3 the music.  It complements the movie so perfectly."

"Ooh, and I forgot to say how much I liked this Aragorn moment the first time: when he's wet and wounded and dirty and sweaty and throws open the doors to I forget where.  It's in the trailers, but it still is super.  I also liked when Theoden was about to kill Wormtongue, and Aragorn is all, 'Enough blood has been spilt on his account.'  &lt;peacemakers3  And when Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli walk into Theoden's throne room place and totally 0wnz0r it.  That was fun.

"I had more to say right after I saw it, but I forget everything now.  I was definitely sad that I missed the majority of the tree-trimming party [especially the food . . . I had some delicious caramel popcorn before I left, but also the people, I suppose.  Everytime I get a chance to see Jane and Laura, I always have something else planned, which sux0rz.], but I got to see TTT, and I would do anything for my hobbitses fix."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/21/2002 02:17:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Public Service Announcement: Her-own-eyes.org Inappropriate for Consumption by Small Children</B></font>

<a href="http://www.net-sweeper.co.uk/" target="_blank">NetSweeper</a>, an Internet Filtering Solution, has apparently decided that her-own-eyes.org, the personal website of an innocent teenage girl, is a "<a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/Pawno.jpg" target="_blank">Sex Site</a>."  How they got that idea, Almeda has no clue.

"Um, I've probably said 'sex' once or twice. [<i>The letters "s," "e", and "x" have appeared consecutively 75 times in the history of her blog; 32 of those 75 were in the words "sexy," "ubersexy," "sexxxy," or "unsexy;" 15 of 71 in "sexual," "sexually," "sexuality," "bisexual," "heterosexual," "homosexual," or "homosexuality;" 9 of 71 in "sexier," "sexiest," or "sexiness;" 4 of 71 in "sexist" or "sexism;" 3 were in the word "sex" used to mean "gender;" and 11 times did they appear in quotes from other sources or titles. --ed.</i>]  But this is far from a porn site or anything.  I mean, I'm FIFTEEN.  I'm a teenager.  We sometimes talk about sex.  But I hardly talk about it constantly, and I don't even have any slightly pornographic pictures anywhere on my site.  Well, unless you count the linking to Billy Boyd pictures.  He is, as I've said before, teh sex.  The only other vaguely pornographic thing I can think of is the link in my links page to <a href="http://www.dianarussell.com/porntoc.html" target="_blank">Pornography as a cause of rape</a>.  Does that count?"

NetSweeper has four major levels of filtering: level 0, level 1, level 2, and allow only.  Level 0 has no Internet filtering.  At Level 1, all sites which are not in a banned category or are uncategorized will appear.  The banned categories are "Criminal Skills," "Cults," "Dating," "Drugs," "Extreme," "Gambling," "Hate Speech," "Sex," "Web Usenet News," and "Proxy Anonymisers," the third to last of which Almeda's site apparently falls into.

Level 1 is divided into two sublevels: 1a and 1b.  1a is the same as Level 1 except that "the key word scanning or URL's and searches will also be enabled."  At Level 1b, "Online Gaming" and "Web Based Chat" are added to the banned categories.

Level 2 blocks "common search engines, which allow users to easilliy [sic] find pornographic web sites."  It generously allows child-friendly search engines such as <a href="http://www.yahooligans.com" target="_blank">Yahooligans</a> to be accessed.

Allow only allows only the following categories: "Entertainment," "General News," "Humour," "Job Search," "On-line Sales," "Politics and Religion," "Self-Help," "Sports," "Travel sites," "News Sites," "Book Review sites," "Resarch [sic] sites (informational sites)," "Movie review sites," "36 ms music artist sites," "Online portal sites," and "Educational Sites."

"If you ask me," says Almeda, although nobody did, "a so-called filtering solution is not doing its job if it filters completely harmless sites such as my own."  Some people disagree.  Colin, who only recently turned 12, says, "Her-own-eyes.org has scarred me for life.  I hadn't even heard the word 'sex' before I went there, let alone knew what it is.  My innocence is lost!  I can only turn to Jesus now and hope he forgives me.  Read <a href="http://www.chick.com" target="_blank">Chick tracts</a>!"  (<a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/colin.mp3">.mp3</a>)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/19/2002 06:42:00 PM
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<b><font size=2>One Day Until Winter Break</font></b>

"One more fricking day!" exults Almeda.  "I just hope I can survive."  Tomorrow is the last day of school at Abington Senior High School for the year 2003; then no school for twelve days.  But first, Almeda must read and take notes on the <i>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i>, complete a chemistry lab write-up, and figure out what she's going to do for presents for her friends.

"I'm so bad at time management," Almeda says.  "But I did mail winter solstice cards yesterday to <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Ell</a>, <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Bek</A>, <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~tartanscarf" target="_blank">Dee</a>, and <a href="http://speechless.nu" target="_blank">Hes</a>, so I at least got something done this week."

Almeda is planning to celebrate the start of winter break tomorrow by going to see <i>The Two Towers</i> for a second time.  Over winter break, she says, she intends on seeing TTT over and over again, making a new layout, catching up on her pleasure reading, and sleeping an inordinate amount.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/18/2002 10:02:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2><i>The Two Towers</i>: A Review</font></b>

WARNING:  Spoilers, 

spoilers, 

spoilers!  

If you haven't seen the film yet, 

READ THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.  

You were warned.

Although exceedingly upset that I did not get to see it at midnight last night, I did go this afternoon.  I don't know if I like it better or worse than the first movie—I'm bad at comparing things—but it was definitely good.

Aragorn still has the most beautiful cheekbones I've ever seen and totally kicks all-around arse.  I don't know why he'd choose Arwen over Éowyn, though.  Éowyn's hardcore, and Arwen is . . . well, Liv Tyler.  Favourite Aragorn quote was definitely: "It's the beards."  And favourite Aragorn moment was probably him shouting commands in Elvish at Helms Deep.  I &lt;3 toughguy!Aragorn.

Merry and Pippin so did not get enough screen time but were absolutely adorable, as usual.  "Don't talk to it, Merry!  Don't encourage it!"  And when Merry got all miffed at Treebeard and went on his little rant about how they live in the same world.  Oh, and Pippin!logic:  "The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm."  &lt;333

Legolas and Gimli, on the other hand, got a lot of screen time.  Gimli probably got the most laughs from the audience.  Pah, stupid ugly dwarf stealing role of comic relief.  While I'm not a big Orlando Bloom fan, I must admit Legolas totally r0x0red Helms Deep.  When he surfed down the stairs on the shield?  Excellent.

Frodo was Frodo.  He's definitely creeping me out with the THE-RING-IS-MAKING-ME-EVIL,LET-ME-THREATEN-YOU-WITH-MY-KNIFE,SAM bit.  I miss my sweet, innocent, naïve Frodo from the first movie.

Sam and Gollum were priceless.  Sam's speech at the end was so sweet, and Gollum talking to himself was hysterical, whether it was meant to be or not.  And how they were both fighting over Frodo, teehee.

New characters:  Éomer had the potential to be sexy, if he would just drop the facial hair.  Beards are so unsexy.  And he's so v. Gryffindor.  I liked the horse on his nose-protector thing, though.  

When I first saw Theoden, I remembered that he fought in the book, and I was like, there is no way this guy is picking up a sword, whether you take off a few years or not.  And then he got all young, and I was like, ohhhh.

Faramir was just Boromir junior, only less likable because he didn't die protecting the Pippin-Merry tag team.

Overall, there was just so much damn fighting in this movie, definitely far more than the first movie.  Helms Deep must have been the longest battle scene I've ever seen.  But not in a boring way, either.

What was up with the mini-cliffhangers?  Like, HORSES HOOVES COMING DOWN ON SCREAMING!PIPPIN, cut to next scene!  And then there was Aragorn trying to pull a Gandalf, throwing himself off the cliff and whatnot.  They weren't very effective, though, if you've read the books.  Or even if you haven't, actually.

Can't wait to see this again, o'course!  It's too long to remember everything after one viewing.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/17/2002 06:52:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>LOTR Permeates Every Aspect of Almeda's Life</font></b>

At the start of Almeda's German class everyday, the class discusses a question (in German, naturally).  In the past some questions have been, "Do you think students should have to say the pledge?" [Almeda quoted her ACLU 'Know Your Rights' book in response to this one], "What's your favorite movie?", and "Would you want to live in a nudist colony?" ["Nein, weil ich kalt sein würde."]  Today the question was, "Are you going to see the new <i>Lord of the Rings</i> movie?  Why do you think it is so popular?"

Almeda raised her hand and replied, "Der Film gefällt mir, weil es so viele heiße Schauspieler gibt."  (Trans: The movie pleases me because there are so many hot actors.)  Almeda's German teacher was quite amused, as were many other members of the class, namely Sonjalein, a.k.a. KT.  Almeda is not all fun and games, though, and added, "Es ist alte Schule Phantasie.  Und auch was Tobias hat gesagt."  (Trans:  It's old school fantasy.  And also what Tobias said.)  "Will Bruce, code name Tobias, said some nonsense about the richness of the book and complex histories and lots of details and stuff," explains Almeda. "I agreed with him only because I didn't want to sound totally superficial.  And then we talked about LOTR for about the next ten minutes, which totally kicked.  German is so much fun sometimes."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/16/2002 09:18:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Hodgepodge</font></b>

"GOD THERE IS TOO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT YOU. I LOFF YOU."
"you rock, and you and daniel will fit perfectly due to your shared fluent knowledge of german. <3"
"I love you. Pls marry me. You cheer me up ALWAYS. <33333333333333333"

70 days till Almeda's birthday.
15 days till the new year.
4 days till winter break.
2 days till TTT.

"O.K. , Just turn it in Kate.
-Mr. Palmer

-----Original Message-----
From: Almeda [mailto:almeda@her-own-eyes.org]
Sent: Fri 12/13/2002 5:43 PM
To: Palmer, Bradley
Cc: 
Subject: chemistry lab

Mr Palmer,

I had a huge research paper due today for world civ. and had no time to do my lab write-up last night or Wednesday night because I was writing my paper.

I worked through my lunch sixth period today to complete it and went to your room after school to turn it in, but you weren't there.

If I turn it in Monday, is there any way I could get any credit for it?

Kate Cheney"
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/16/2002 08:07:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Has Quite an Adventure</font></b>

Last night Almeda, her friend Stasia, and their other friend Leigh, plus Stasia's maternal unit, attended <a href="http://www.y100.com/listingsentryfeature.asp?ID=53921&PT=feature" target="_Blank">Feastival 2002</a>, a concert sponsored by <a href="http://www.y100.com" target="_blank">Y100</a>, a local radio station, and featuring the bands <a href="http://www.seether.com/" target="_blank">Seether</a>, <a href="http://www.queensofthestoneage.com/" target="_blank">Queens of the Stone Age</a>, <a href="http://www.newfoundglory.com/" target="_blank">New Found Glory</a>, <a href="http://www.zwan.com/" target="_blank">Zwan</a>, <a href="http://www.goodcharlotte.com/" target="_blank">Good Charlotte</a>, and <a href="http://www.coldplay.com/" target="_blank">Coldplay</a>.  The doors opened at 5:00 and the three teens accompanied by one mother arrived soon after.  When they arrived in the vicinity of the First Union Center, the responsible adult let out the three girls, who, after a few false starts, found the right line in which to wait.

"We waited in this huge line for ages, and then Stasia had to go to the bathroom, so she ran off, and left me and Leigh behind.  We eventually got to the front of the line, got patted down [they threw Leigh's water bottle in the trash, the pjoofaces], got our tickets "X"ed, and got our little yellow wristbands.  Once we got inside, we waited for Stasia for what seemed like at least twenty-two days," says Almeda.  "While we were waiting, I people-watched.  There was this really goth-ish girl near us with duct tape on her shirt that said 'wanting 2 b sum1 else is a waste of the person u r.'  I was like, oho, teenybopper-speak meets Kurt Cobain.  Well, <i>I</i> found it amusing, at least."

Stasia eventually arrived, and the three made their way down to the floor.  The first band, Seether, had already started playing.  "I don't know, all their songs sounded the same to me.  Very metal, very shriek-y.  I'm not a big fan of that sort of music, but apparently the middle-class white rebellious teens who seemed to make up a large part of the audience are.  Whatever floats your boat, I say. [Whatever makes you smile / whatever book you wrote / whatever rules you live by.]"

After Seether, SL&A went to meet Stasia's mother, Dame Orkwiszewski, at a display with a bunch of hats [whenever a hockey player scores three goals in one game, apparently the standard behaviour is to throw your hat, or bra, in some cases, onto the rink].  They waited there for quite some time, and in that time Stasia purchased a sexy Zwan shirt with the rainbow guitar logo and Almeda took a trip to the local lavatory.

Eventually the Orkwiszewski matron appeared, and everyone went back to the pit for Queens of the Stone Age.  "They were pretty good, but I think I enjoy music that I'm used to more than I do unfamiliar music," explains Almeda.  "There was one guy with Snape-ish hair and OMG.  I JUST REALISED THAT THIS IS THE BAND.  FROM BEKI'S BUDDY ICON.  AHAHAHAHAHHA.  Er, sorry.  I only just visited the website to look for a picture of the guy, and then I was like, hmm, I've definitely been here before.  Beki, you tolly should have come to this concert with me!!!!!!111one"

After Queens of the Stone Age, the trio took a short break from standing to sit.  Next was New Found Glory, whom Leigh and Almeda enjoyed quite a bit, but of whom Stasia was entirely unappreciative.  "They had a lot of personality," says Almeda. "Which doesn't necessarily make good music, but it makes fun concerts."  Zwan was after New Found Glory, so instead of taking a break, the three pushed their way close to the stage, because Stasia adores Billy Corgan with all her heart.  However, when Billy Corgan finally came onto stage, Leigh told Stasia she felt sick.

Leigh crouched down, too woozy to stand, but Stasia helped her to her feet [because the middle of a crowd of mostly-teenagers prone to moshing is not the best place to sit down] and started following her out of the crowd.  But Leigh, Stasia, and Almeda got separated in the sea of people, and though Stasia and Almeda emerged safely from the crowd, Leigh did not.  "God, I felt so bad for Stasia," Almeda comments mournfully.  "She went to the concert for Zwan, and then at the beginning of their set her friend gets sick.  So I went to look in the bathroom for Leigh but couldn't find her."

Stasia's mother then says she'll go look for Leigh and tells Stasia to not worry about it because she understands how much Zwan means to her daughter.  Almeda and Stasia thread their way back through the crowd towards the stage, but they are nowhere near as close as they were earlier.  Still, they are able to enjoy the music.  "Billy Corgan was so adorable!" Almeda says.  "He had this cute little sweater on, and as Stasia's M. said, he totally didn't look like a rock star.  But in a good way.  And I was proud of Zwan because they had the only female band member the whole night."

Towards the end of Zwan's set, things started to get exciting.  "I was looking at the stage, and suddenly I started to see dots.  I closed my eyes, but that didn't work, and then I couldn't see.  So I tell Stasia that I can't see, but I'm not sure if she can hear my because the music's really loud and I can barely hear myself.  I feel Stasia's hand on my back and she's directing me out of the crowd.  The floor feels like it's tilting and I can barely stand.  I'm bumping into people and then I feel another arm on my other side.  We walk a little further, and I have no sense of how far I've gone.  Then I feel a slight pressure on my shoulder, and maybe someone told me to sit down, and I do sit down, cross-legged.  I'm pretty sure I remained conscious the whole time, but I'm not sure.  I must admit, remembering everything exactly so I could blog about it was not my top priority at the time."

Eventually Almeda's vision came back into focus and she saw Stasia's mother crouched in front of her.  Next to Mother Orkwiszewski was a medical staff person.  Communicating through Stasia's mother, Almeda told the guy that she felt faint but was all right.  He led her to the First Aid place, with Stasia and Stasia's mother in tow.  In the First Aid place, they discovered Leigh.  She was okay, but apparently she had fainted in the middle of the crowd and some guy had carried her to safety.

"The medical-type guy asked me for my name, my address, my telephone number, and stuff like that, and then had me call home.  My dad picked up, and I asked for my mum, 'cause I figured she would take it better.  Surprisingly, though, I misestimated my parents.  When I got home, my dad was all joking about how I overdosed on drugs and told my brother to be quiet because I had to recover, but when my mother picked me up from school the next day, she was all, 'This doesn't make me too confident about letting you go to something like that in the future.'  So, anyway, I called my dad, he said mum was asleep, so I explained the dilly to him.  He then talked to the medical guy, who said they could release me to the 'responsible adult,' Stasia's mom, or take me to the hospital.  My dad picked the former, so after I got some water and the guy took my blood pressure, we all left.  At this point I had quite the headache, and Stasia said I looked green, but I was just thankful that I could see again."

Everyone decided it was time to go home then.  Almeda didn't mind too much because she was rather tired, but she and Leigh both felt really bad for Stasia.  Stasia, though, said, "Don't feel bad.  It's not your fault.  If you had chosen to faint, you could feel bad," in her logical Stasia way.

Almeda arrived home around 10:30 and collapsed into bed, exhausted from the crazy happenings.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/15/2002 12:40:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Attends Birthday Parties</font></b>

December 14, 2002 was the twelfth anniversary of the birth of <a href="http://snarfy.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">Colin</a>, Almeda's brother.  In the evening a small family gathering was held, but unfortunately Almeda had to leave for Allison's birthday party immediately after the tiramisu was cut.

From Allison's house, the eight teenage girls and two parents went to <a href="http://www.colormemine.com/" target="_blank">Color Me Mine</a>, an arts-and-crafty place where customers get to paint their own ceramics.  "OMG, it was so fun," Almeda says.  "We got to pick out a piece of pottery, and there were so many cute things, and it was so difficult to choose!  There were fairies and teapots and cups and mugs and bowls and frogs and alligators and cats and dogs and dishes for cats and dogs and ice cream cones and a VW Bug piggy bank [so! incredibly! cute!] and butter dishes and Elvis busts!  I eventually picked the "cat decanter."  It was a stylized cat with a really long neck and it was adorable.  The sample one that they had which was already painted was black and white and really sexy and it had a little red ribbon around its neck."

After much consideration, Almeda painted her cat with paint number 84: "lavender lace," which was the closest colour to the purple she had in mind.  Then, inspired by the sample VW Bug piggy bank, she painted groovy kiwi, pink [she can't remember the official name for the pink she picked], and cerulean flowers on her cat.  "I'm quite proud of it," she comments.  "The people at Color Me Mine are going to fire the things we painted in the next couple of days, then Allison's going to pick them up and deliver them to us.  I can't wait!"

They spent two hours at Color Me Mine and returned to Allison's house for ice cream cake and presents.  Out of the seven guests at Allison's party, four of them gave her scarves.  "I guess she just emits a give-me-scarves vibe," Almeda theorizes.  "But I didn't get her a scarf!  I got her cute woolen socks and lotion and bath gel and stuff that smells like strawberry & lily."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/14/2002 11:23:00 AM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda Gets in Touch with Her Inner Fangirl</font></b>

Last night Almeda, Katie, and Marisa gathered chez Marisa and watched a documentary on the making of <i>The Two Towers</i> as well as the first disc of FoTR with actors' commentary.  Most of the time was spent squealing, swooning, giggling, and making dirty jokes, with a small break for Chinese food and ice cream.

"Billy Boyd is teh sex," says Almeda solemnly.  "Although I must admit than I'm becoming partial to Daniel [sic] Monaghan.  I didn't really have a feel for his personality until last night, and I've discovered that he is rather amusing."  She grins, adding, "What can I say?  I have a weakness for funny men.  And older men, actually. But only if they're Viggo Mortensen or Alan Rickman.  I mean, yes, Daniel and Billy are older than me, but they're not old-old.  Oh, nevermind."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/13/2002 05:20:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Almeda and Procrastination Fight to the Pain</font></b>

Almeda arose at 4:00 AM this morning to finish writing her paper on women authors of the Japanese Heian period.  Somehow she managed to finish, although typically her computer froze several times and her printer was being peevish.  Though she did finish, she was late to school and missed the first thirty minutes of first period due to the inefficiency of the dealing-with-late-students system.

"When I walked into English, we were taking a vocab quiz," says Almeda.  "I was quite relieved because we were supposed to have read the majority of the <i>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i> by today, and I hadn't because I'd been writing my stupid paper, and I was afraid we were going to have to take a quiz on it, and I would fail, and my life would be over.  So there were about ten minutes left in the period and everyone is like, 'Are we not having a quiz on Frederick Douglass today?' and 'I stayed up till two in the morning last night taking notes on Frederick Douglass,' so Mr Lodewick says, 'Fine, you want to take a quiz?  We can take a quiz.'  Then he passes out lined paper and starts asking questions.  At this point I am finished my vocab quiz but I pretend to check my answers so it won't seem like I'm done."

Almeda eventually decides she might as well answer the Frederick Douglass questions, but since she did not read the assigned text, she can only answer three of the ten.  When the bell rings, sadly she takes her vocabulary and Frederick Douglass quizzes to Mr Lodewick's desk.

"I gave him my vocab quiz and then I was going to give him my other paper, but he was like, 'Oh, you didn't have to do that,' and gestured to the trash can.  I threw the thing in the trash and shimmered out of the room, convinced that Mr Lodewick is, as I've always suspected, a god among English teachers.  What a noble, princely man!"

After she left English class, Almeda went to second period, world civilizations, where she turned in her research paper.  "I should feel relieved, but I don't think it's really hit me yet," she testified.  "Oh, and after everyone turned their papers in, we got doughnuts!  And we watched <i>Amistad</i>, which is a gruesome, gruesome movie.  It's sad because it's true."

Third period and fourth period passed uneventfully, and then came chemistry.  "I had been so busy with my paper that I didn't have a chance to do my chem lab write-up," Almeda says.  "I did it during the period after chemistry, lunch, but when I went to hand it in at the end of the day, Mr Palmer wasn't in his room.  I think I'll just send it to him via e-mail and see what happens."  She pauses for a minute, then concludes, "School sucks."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/11/2002 06:42:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>News in Brief</font></b>

Unburdened.org, <b>Almeda</b>'s previous domain, expires tomorrow.

Six more days until <b><i>The Two Towers</i></b>.

The winter concert was postponed and all <b>after-school activities</b> were cancelled today.

Almeda should work on her <b>research paper</b>, which is due Friday.

<b>Billy Boyd</b> is the <a href="http://www.lilithofsherwood.com/Lij/icon/billysat1758.jpg" target="_blank">second</a> <a href="http://www.lilithofsherwood.com/Lij/icon/billy1991edit.jpg" target="_blank">coming</a> of <B>Jesus</b>.

<a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Eleanour</a> is possessive and ungenerous and should study the philosophy of <b>free love</b>.  Fucking top!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/11/2002 08:33:00 AM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Allison Turns Sixteen!</font></b>

Allison, arguably Almeda's closest friend, turned sixteen years old today.  In honour of her birthday, the superintendent delayed the start of schools by two hours and cancelled morning kindergarten.  "It must be because of Allie's birthday," reasons Almeda.  "I mean, I don't see any snow or freezing rain out my window, so why else would school start later?"

The celebration of Allison's sixteenth birthday is scheduled for this Saturday, the fourteenth December, from 6:30 to 10:00 PM.  Tonight a concert is being held at the school in her honour, and she will be playing the fiddle with the school orchestra.  Almeda plans to attend both the party on Saturday and the concert tonight, although she says "I should probably stay home and work on my research paper instead.  It is, after all, due on Friday."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/10/2002 08:53:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Cyber Pheromones?</b></font>

Almeda, 15, <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Beki</a>, 15, and <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Eleanour</a>, 17, have somehow managed to synchronize their menstrual cycles.  This would not be so unusual in itself; oftentimes women who live or spend a lot of time together find that the difference between the dates their cycles begin decreases.  For instance, Katie and Almeda, who are not exactly together constantly, but certainly are good friends, started their periods simultaneously.  For more scientific-type information about the subject of pheromones and menstrual cycles, read <A href="http://psyweb2.ucdavis.edu/Courses/Schank/PSC204a-f02/week3/SternMcClintock.pdf" target="_blank">Regulation of ovulation by human pheromones</a> (.pdf format).

However, although Beki and Eleanour have met, Almeda lives across the ocean from both of them.  "My first theory was that Eleanour had been wearing 4 x 4 cotton pads in her axillae for at least eight hours and then flying to Pennsylvania and wiping the pads above my upper lip," says Almeda.  But Eleanour denies this charge.  "The only other explanation I can think of," Almeda says, "is virtual pheromones.  Perhaps in talking to Eleanour and Beki on AIM, we unknowingly exchanged cyber pheromones!  You can have cyber sex, why not cyber pheromones?"

Some people are skeptical.  "It's entirely coincidence," says Sybarite Turpitude.  "Most ridiculous thing I've heard in my life.  Virtual pheromones?  Pah!"

For those males out there who are totally clueless in all female matters, her menstrual cycle is something every woman from approximately ages 12 to 52 has to deal with on a monthly basis.  The menstrual cycle is divided into three phases: menstruation, the follicular phase, and the luteal phase.  The follicular phase is when the follicle stimulating hormone is released, eggs mature in the woman's ovaries, and the lining of her uterus thickens.  The luteal phase is when the leutenizing hormone is released and ovulation occurs.  If the egg is not fertilized, as is the case for Almeda, Beki, and Eleanour, who are all good Christian girls and do not approve of premarital sex, what is commonly know as "the period" occurs.

When questioned, Eleanour stated that the worst part of having a period (for those of you who haven't had— and never will have— the Menstruation Experience) is "a toss-up between bleeding everywhere and horrific agonizing pain."  As for the best part, she had to think a while, but eventually answered, "having an excuse to eat an excess of chocolate, and getting to shout at people and putting it down to hormones."

Almeda agrees with Eleanour about the worst part: "killer cramps and constantly staining my unmentionables, no matter what I do.  Thankfully I've got modern medicine for the cramps, though.  I don't know how Cro-Magnon women survived without ibuprofen."  However, while Almeda no doubt enjoys eating large amounts of chocolate and blaming her mood swings on "PMS," she says that the best part of having her period is "being in touch with my inner moon goddess and connected to all the women who've gone before me and feeling in rhythm with the earth."

Katie laments, "Tampons should come in much larger boxes, and mothers should not be allowed to already be going through "the change" when their daughters need the moral support."

Beki was not available for comment, although she states on her personal website: "but i don't feel like doing anything cause i have horrid stomach cramps (hence the i-hate-being-female) mood today."  From this one can assume that she is slightly resentful at the very least of her period.

For interesting answers to the question "Would you stop menstruating if you could?" and other menstruation-related stuff visit <a href="http://www.mum.org/stopmen.htm" target="_blank">Museum of Menstruation website</A>.  Don't miss Gloria Steinem's "<a href="http://www.mum.org/ifmencou.htm" target="_blank">If Men Could Menstruate</a>" essay!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/10/2002 06:36:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2><i>The Basic Eight</i> Still Kicks Ass</font></b>

Almeda, instead of writing about themes in <i>Othello</i>, began to reread for perhaps the third or fourth time Daniel Handler's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312253737/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Basic Eight</a></i> on Sunday night.  Daniel Handler, 32, is also the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1039562581/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Watch Your Mouth</a></i> and Lemony Snicket's literary, legal, and social representative.  "<i>The Basic Eight</i>," Almeda says, "is one of those lovely books which grow better every time you read them again."

On this reading, Almeda noticed for the first time that Peter Lefcourt, author of <i>The Woody</i> and <i>Abbreviating Ernie</i>, was quoted as saying, "Flannery Culp is Holden Caulfield in drag, forty-five years later."  Flannery (the narrator) writes, "I don't mean to sound like Salinger's phony-hating phony or anything but at times at Roewer it seems that everybody's phony and brain-dead and that if it weren't for my friends and the few other interesting people I'd go crazy for nothing to do."  

Almeda has not read <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> yet but knows enough about the novel to recognize "phony-hating phony" from helping her friend Katie with an English assignment to correct sentences other students wrote and turned in about <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i>.  She was aware that Daniel Handler had read (and, one might assume, is a fan of) Salinger because of the character Esmé Squalor in <i>A Series of Unfortunate Events</i>, so the above two quotations amused her greatly.

"I also realized that the character of Douglas's last name is Wilde.  Not coincidentally, Douglas is gay.  And then there's Jennifer Rose <i>Milton</i> and probably other clever things I've missed.  That's one of the things I love about Daniel Handler.  His books are chock-full of literary in-jokes like that, ASoUE especially.  He is such a genius!" she gushes, starry-eyed.

"Oh, and then there's the quote '[Natasha] went on to describe some guy she met at the Harvard Summer Program in Comparative Religion.  Natasha's always had a fascination with what people worship.  Kate says Natasha's actually fascinated that people aren't worshiping <i>her</i> instead.' which I just absolutely love," says Almeda.  "Natasha is too cool.  And then there's the whole <i>La Boheme</i> thing and the <i>Othello</i> aspect, which should be even more enjoyable now that I've actually read <i>Othello</i>.  Daniel Handler rocks!"
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/10/2002 04:45:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Suburban Teenagers Traipse Around Philadelphia</font></b>

Yesterday twelve students from Abington's ACLU club and their teacher sponsor, Mr Kummer, left Abington High School at around 10:30 AM for a downtown excursion.  While the other students piled into two student-operated cars, the three sophomores in the group, Almeda, Katie, and Marisa, rode in Mr Kummer's car to the nearest train station, from which they took a train into center city Philadelphia.  Once at <a href="http://www.30thstreetstation.com/" target="_blank">30th Street Station</a>, many of the students opted to purchase a snack from <a href="http://www.aubonpain.com/" target="_blank">Au Bon Pain</a>.  "I got a raspberry cheese croissant," proclaims Almeda, "and it was sublime."

After the snack, the club walked en masse to the University of Pennsylvania, where Almeda's father works as a computer programmer, and where they were to meet Joshua Brown, the president of the <a href="http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~aclu/" target="_blank">ACLU Penn Chapter</a>.  Brown, 20, spoke to the group about the ACLU, the Penn Chapter specifically, and gave out lots of goodies, such as ACLU buttons and pencils and pamphlets with all sorts of information.  "One could easily take over the world with buttons . . .," says Katie, clutching hers possessively.  A few of the students immediately pinned theirs to their backpacks.

After Joshua had finished talking to the Abington ACLU club members, he led them to the basement of <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/admissions/tour/tourstop.php?stop=5" target="_blank">Houston Hall</a>, the cafeteria.  Almeda, full from her raspberry cheese croissant, bought only a yogurt parfait and a raspberry Snapple iced tea ("Real Fact #13: Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds."), raspberry being the flavour of the day.  She was very tempted to get a Cherry Garcia Ben & Jerry's ice cream bar and even more tempted when she saw they had larger cartons of the ice cream as well.

"It comes in pints?!" she exclaimed, quoting <a href="http://www.amateurish.org/pics/billywall0202.jpg" target="_blank">one of the sexiest characters ever</a> from a well-known film about little people and rings and rushing to the freezer which held the pints of ice cream.  However, her wiser side convinced her that it was not the best weather for ice cream consuming, and Katie wisely pointed out that she probably couldn't eat the whole pint in one go.  Almeda felt differently about that but abstained nonetheless.

When everyone had finished eating, Mr Kummer ushered the students out of the cafeteria and to the <a href="http://www.appcpenn.org/" target="_blank">Annenberg Public Policy Center</a>, where they met <a href="http://www.justicetalking.org/about.asp" target="_blank">Gary Kallman</a>, a member of the Justice Talking staff.  Mr Kallman talked to them from approximately 3:00 to 4:00 about the <a href="http://archive.aclu.org/action/rave107.html" target="_blank">Reducing America's Vulnerability to Ecstasy [RAVE] Act</a>, the topic of the debate that the ACLU students would be watching later that evening, and drug policy in general.  He also gave each member of the ACLU club a little tin of red hots which said "Justice Talking - red hot radio from NPR" on them.  Katie was disappointed that they were not buttons, but decided to give the candy to someone else and keep the tin, despite Almeda's insistence that they did not taste all that hot.

Around 4:00 PM Kallman led the group to the <a href="http://www.wistar.upenn.edu/" target="_blank">The Wistar Institute</a>, where Justice Talking is taped.  The two debaters were Terrence Farley, the First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor and the director of the Ocean County Narcotics Strike Force in New Jersey, and Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Policy Litigation Project.  The moderator was Margot Adler, and the ACLU club members were in the audience.  Almeda got to ask a question, as did two other members of the ACLU.  

"I really just came up with a question because I wanted the chance to get on the radio," says Almeda.  "So I said, 'Mr Farley seems to think that the only purpose of the RAVE Act is to add open air and one time events to the list of places whose owners can be held liable for drug use.  What does Graham see as negative effects of the RAVE Act?'  'cause first of all, everyone was asking the other guy questions and I thought Graham needed an opportunity to speak.  Also, the other guy was making [the RAVE Act] out to seem harmless, when the background information I'd read said entirely the opposite.  So that's why I asked that.  Mr Farley (Notice how I refer to the guy whose opinion I'm opposed to as Mr So-and-so, but the guy with whom I agree as First Name?  I did that unconsciously.) told me it was a good question, which made me doubt it, but that's okay."

When the debate ended at 6:00, the ACLU club members got a chance to talk to Graham Boyd before leaving.  Then they walked back to 30th Street Station, although first Mr Kummer led them in the opposite direction from the one they were supposed to be going, and took the train back to Abington.  Marisa and Almeda got transportation home from Katie's father, and all agreed that it had been a super day.  Almeda certainly felt the day had turned out especially well, considering its poor start for her.  

On Sunday evening she had been having trouble concentrating when writing her <i>Othello</i> essay, so she left half of it undone and woke up at 5:00 the next morning to finish writing.  Consequently, she missed the bus.  Her mother drove her to school, and she arrived only two or three minutes after the bell had rung but had to wait in a long line for a pass and thus was ten minutes late to first period.  "Some reform is needed in that system," Almeda complains grumpily.  "Punishing late students by having them wait even later to get to class is completely unnecessary."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/09/2002 08:48:00 PM
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BODY:
<b><font size=2>Third Person Sweeps the Blog</font></b>

On the night of Sunday, November 8, 2002, Almeda, everyone's favourite fifteen-year-old blogger, made the spontaneous resolution to write all of her subsequent blog entries in the third person.  Third person narrative is the style of writing used most frequently in literature in which the author does not use the pronoun "I."  When asked how she reached this decision, Almeda explained, "I was writing my essay on <i>Othello</i> last night and finding it difficult to write without saying 'I' as one is meant to do in formal pieces of writing.  I think blogging daily in such an informal manner has gotten me out of the practice of writing formally."

Almeda feels that writing articles in the third person, à la Lufelia of <a href="http://www.news-girl.com" target="_blank">News-Girl.com</a>, will improve her writing skills.  "Plus," she adds, "It'll stir things up a bit.  Lately I think I've been blogging out of habit rather than because I had anything interesting to say or because it's a creative challenge."

At the moment Almeda has no idea how long this whim will last, but says that she plans to keep it up for as long as she feels like it.  "Above all, I write this blog for my personal satisfaction.  If I'm enjoying writing in the third person, then I'll keep writing that way.  Maybe for a day, maybe forever.  Who knows?"
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/08/2002 02:16:00 PM
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BODY:
Last night was q. fun.  We went to Casablanca, a Moroccan restaurant, which definitely kicked ass.  There were low round tables with poufs on one side and a low bench covered with cushions and colourful pillows on the other, and I definitely wish my house was that cool.  At first everyone crowded onto the bench, but then we were told that some of us should sit on the floor, so I and a few other people moved onto the poufs even though I was wearing a skirt and probably would have been better off on the bench.  xP  We had big towels to put on our laps, though, so I didn't really have to worry, anyway.

Then a guy came around with a big basin and a kettle of hot water and we all stuck our hands over the basin, and he poured the water over our hands.  He told us to smell our hands, so we did, and they smelled like roses.  It was v. nice.  =)  After everyone's hands were washed [there were four little round tables, all the party guests around the first three, and then Miriam's parents and the other two adults who drove us around the last table], the waiter person came over and asked if anyone was vegetarian.  I raised my hand and he was like, "Okay, let me explain to everyone else, and then I'll talk to you."

So he told everyone that there would be five courses: the three kinds of salads that were already on the tables [carrot, eggplant, and another type with like cucumbers and stuff]; this thing with chicken and egg in the middle of a flaky, paper-thin pastry sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; five dishes of chicken prepared with dates, apricots, olives, something hot and spicy, and something else I can't remember; couscous with carrots, possibly turnips, chick peas <3, and raisins; and baklava for dessert.  Then he told me that I would basically have a separate vegetarian dish for everything, which made me feel kind of guilty, but I smiled and said, "Okay, thank you very much."

So then we ate.  And it was all really good.  We ate everything with our fingers, except when I got a fork for my plate of food which I ate instead of the chicken.  My plate had this really nice pastry thing filled with something that tasted like pesto sauce, spinach, and/or cheese; hummus; a shish kebab of mushrooms and other vegetables; and some cucumbers and tomatoes.  Yummy.  ^__^

Also, while we ate there was music and a belly dancer.   There were actually two belly dancers, but they weren't dancing the whole time and only one danced at a time.  I felt kind of awkward 'cause I wasn't sure what the proper etiquette is for watching belly dancers.  Do you smile at them?  Do you clap along to the music?  And people gave her money, so it felt kind of exotic dancer-esque.  I dunno.  You got used to it, though, and they even had people stand up and dance with them.  So I did that and made a fool out of myself, but y'know, it was fun, so whatevs.

That was a really, really good time and afterwards we went back to Miriam's house and played <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/blog.php?see=2001_12_16_archive.php#7971626">the Mafia game</a> and ate cake and ice cream, which was also fun.  :D

This morning my family [self included] went to Chinatown to eat brunch with dad's brother, sister, sister's husband, and other sister.  My stomach felt terrible, and at first I thought it was because I hadn't eaten breakfast and then we'd gone on Lincoln Drive, which is extremely twisty and everyone drives much faster than the road was intended for, but then I went to the bathroom and realised my uterus had decided to begin its monthly ritual of contracting to expel its lining and causing me a lot of discomfort.  So that really sucked, and I couldn't really enjoy any of the food because I was in great pain, but I survived.

Today I need to write my four-page essay on Othello [remember how I said it was due last Friday?  Mr Lodewick moved the due date back to Monday], and I probably should work on my research paper because it is due this Friday and I haven't even started it, but I don't know.  I'll manage.

And tomorrow is the ACLU fieldtrip!  Whee!  :D  [So, yeah, I have a chem lab due tomorrow but I'm not going to do it because I get to miss chemistry for the field trip!  >D]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/07/2002 03:41:00 PM
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BODY:
Went tubing/snowboarding with Stasia y Allison today!  Well, my snowboarding was rather pathetic, but that's okay.  I had fun.  It was so cold and wet, though, and I have no proper playing-in-the-snow attire.  But I survived, and when I got home I got my oatmeal raisin cookies and my hot cocoa and la vie est bonne.  [And don't even try to correct that, Nina.  I don't take French, and I don't care!  ;D]

Tonight is Miriam's party, whee.  :D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/06/2002 07:51:00 PM
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BODY:
La la la la, hooray for two-hour delays!  And then I'm going on a FIELD TRIP for the ACLU on MONDAY, so I will get to miss periods four through eight, huzzah!

Tomorrow is la fête d'anniversaire de Miriam, das Geburstagparty von Miriam, natalem diem Miriamae.  =)

Nothing of particular interest happened today.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." - Robert Frost

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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/05/2002 10:00:00 PM
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BODY:
One thing I love about snow is that even after the sun goes down, it never gets truly dark.  =)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/05/2002 09:57:00 AM
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BODY:
HAPPY SNOW DAY!  :DDD

I woke up this morning around my usual time and ran to the computer to check for school closings.  At first I thought it said that all Philadelphia public and parochial schools were <i>open</i>, which disappointed me, but I went ahead and put in my school number anyway ['cause I'm not a Philadelphia school xP].  It said 309 hadn't contacted KYW yet, so that made me sad, but then I wasn't sure if my school number <i>was</i> 309.  So I tried 304, and then I got an error message.  I tried to go back to the page before it and got another error message.  So I decided to go to my school's website and realised that my school number was 301.  Then I went back to the site and entered 301 and . . .

Number 301 CLOSED for today. 

And I also realised I had misread the other thing.  "All Philadelphia public and parochial schools will be closed Thursday. Offices will be open."  So hip, hip, hooray!

*dances in the snow*
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/04/2002 04:44:00 PM
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BODY:
Tra la la.  It's supposed to snow tonight!

<a href="http://www.guerrillagirls.com/" target="_blank">This</a> r0x0rz hardcore.  <3 @ the stickers & posters.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/03/2002 05:11:00 PM
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BODY:
Laura [my aunt who's not really my aunt but who's been roommates with my other aunt so long that she's like an aunt] is getting married!!!  :D  And I get to be one of bridesmaids!!!  :D  She told me to keep it kind of quiet because she didn't want Colin/Nora getting jealous, but Nora doesn't read this, and I don't think Colin will be too depressed that he can't be a bridesmaid.  :DDD  I'm so excited for her!  xD

I stayed after school today to watch <a href="http://blinked.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">her</a> swim, and that was enjoyable.  The swimmeet started around 3:30 and school ends at 2:35, so I did my homework in the library in the time in between.  I'm so good at time management.  =)

Speaking of good, I started reading <a href="http://spoinky.net" target="_blank">Nina</A>'s novel last night.  She makes me insanely jealous with her skillz.

Speaking of writing skillz, guess who got a 200/200 on her <i>The Crucible</i> in-class essay?  This is a major improvement from my 170/200 on my <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> test.  And Mr Lodewick wrote "Excellent work!" on it.  *beams with pride*  Of course, I really enjoyed writing that essay because it was all <i>The Crucible</i>, Salem witch trials, written as a response to McCarthyism, etc.  And one of the questions in the prompt was "Do you think this could happen today?" so I rather enjoyed answering that!  *cough*<a href="http://www.progressive.org/webex/mcwatch.html" target="_blank">The New McCarthyism</a>*cough*
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/02/2002 06:49:00 PM
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BODY:
Now in less serious news . . . 98 on my math test, excellent work, if I do say so myself.  80/90 on my chem test, which is certainly a shame.  I didn't memorize the modern Periodic Law and one of the questions was "State the modern Periodic Law."  So if I had known that word-for-word, I could have gotten an 84/90, but sadly I am le stupid.  Ah, well.  Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on.  [Speaking of "Ob-La-Di," in world civ. today we had to perform songs about ancient African kingdoms, and one group sang about Ghana to that song.  My group did Great Zimbabwe to the tune of "YMCA."  Silly stuff.]

And now, for my "to do" list!

<b>To do</b>
<li>write <i>Othello</i> essay by Fri.
<li>art project by Fri.
<li>academic access research paper thing and works cited page by Fri. so you don't get a bloody "B" again, you pathetic excuse for an honors student
<li>research paper by next Friday which also happens to be the THIRTEENTH.  Coincidence?  I think not.
<li>get present for Miriam, whose par-tay is Sat.
<li>some time soon go back and at the very least read through novel to make acceptable for people who would like to read it

Some <a href="http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/zenger.html" target="_blank">interesting</a> <a href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/shields_18_1.html" target="_blank">stuff</a> I've been reading recently.  [Both articles are completely non-related, but that's all right.  I felt like linking them.  xP]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/02/2002 06:33:00 PM
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BODY:
Right before I fell asleep last night I was thinking about what I said yesterday re: KT & humor as defense mechanism.  I was feeling a bit depressed, I think, so the following might not be the objective truth.  I actually wrote this down [in briefer form] on an index card 'cause I didn't want to forget.

I decided I am very insecure about my self and especially what I deserve, especiallyespecially friends-wise.  I think that I subconsciously think that my only redeeming quality is my sense of humour, and people won't be my friends unless I keep them laughing constantly.

&lt;feelings of low self-worth&gt;I also decided that I use my blog to talk about things normal people would tell their friends.  Many of the people I talk to on a daily basis know nothing about me.  Like if I gave them one of those online friend quizzes [what's my favourite colour?  how many brothers and sisters do I have], they would fail.  I avoid getting personal.  Perhaps because I don't want to get hurt, perhaps because I have a hard time opening up, perhaps because I'm afraid that people won't care.&lt;/feelings of low self-worth&gt;

I think I need to realize that everything I say doesn't have to be a punchline and that I am a beautiful human being, worthy of being loved.  ;D  So if you're my friend, please reassure me that you don't just like me 'cause I'm funny, kthx.

Don't worry, though, I'm not depressed.  This was just something I was musing over last night.  There might be a few grains of truth in it, but this morning everyone was like, "HI, KATE! *WAVEWAVE*" so I started to feel that perhaps people care about me afterall.  Whatevs.  I just enjoy hearing myself angst.  ;)
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/01/2002 09:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I nearly forgot to do the Sunday thing again, and that would have disappointed Elly greatly.

<b>Eleanour</b>
Eleanour is like an older sister to me.  A British older sister who lives across the ocean, is interested in anthropology, and is in no way related to me.  But we have a lot in common!  She wants to be made into an <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/elly.gif" target="_Blank">action figure</a>; so do I!  She likes Pippin; so do I!  She knows that LoTR is the one exception to the "books are always better than their movie versions" rule; so do I!  Eleanour is clever and funny and I enjoy her conversation quite a lot.  If I were a lesbian, Eleanour would be the one person on whom I'd have a crush.  However, since I am a 0 on the Kinsey Scale, we don't need to worry about that!  Little Nell also has quite excellent music tastes, although we differ on the subject of Jeff Buckley vs. Rufus Wainwright.  Of course, it's not her fault that she's completely wrong.  I blame the Northampton water.  Possibly also her inbreeding.  You know those English types.  Always marrying their cousins and whatnot.  ;D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/01/2002 07:26:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Friday felt like Sunday, and then Saturday felt like Sunday, but now it is Sunday for real at last.  I haven't really written since Thanksgiving, so I'll just recap my weekend.

On Friday my mum made me and my brother go to lunch with her college roommate and her family in Chinatown, so that was interesting.  Instead of ordering stuff off the menu, we had dim sum.  So the waiters came around with carts of unidentifiable food, and we had to sort of guess what each dish was because not all of the waiters were especially fluent in English [not that there's anything wrong with that].  This is all well and good, but when you're a vegetarian, it can be a bit problematic.  My mother gave me a pork bun thingy, which she assured me was vegetarian, but when I bit into it I discovered otherwise.  And I'm nearly positive I ate some sort of fish.  Oh, well.  They did have really good vegetarian dumplings and tofu, so that was nice.

At 7:00 on Friday evening I went to KT's house and we watched <i>The Importance of Being Ernest.</i>  V. brilliant movie, and I absolutely must read the book now.  :D  J'adore mistaken identities et Colin Firth x 8.  [Speaking of C.F., I went to see CoS again today and there was a preview for some movie with him.  <i>What a Girl Wants</i> was the title of it, I think.]  I also attempted to help her with <a href="http://www.dors.de/razorlame/index.php" target="_blank">RazorLame</a> but wasn't very successful.  And we talked about stuff, which I enjoyed.  Perhaps because I've known Katie so long, I can speak quite candidly with her, and that's not something I can do with all my friends, I'm sorry to say.  I don't really talk about serious/intimate things with many of my school friends [if you're reading this blog, don't worry, it's probably not you].  I think I tend to use humour as a defense mechanism.

Yesterday I wrote like mad to meet the NaNoWriMo deadline, pausing only for "Family Game Night."  We played a couple rounds of Pinochle, which is a game I do not much enjoy.  Pinochle and I have quite a <a href="http://www.her-own-eyes.org/blog.php?see=2002_09_01_archive.php#81027189">history</a>.

Today I played <a href="http://directory.google.com/Top/Games/Board_Games/Murder-Mystery_and_Deduction/13_Dead_End_Drive/" target="_blank">13 Dead End Drive</a> with the family [and won three games out of four, go team!] then went to see <i>Harry Potter</i> a second time.

Happy first day of December, everyone, and Happy Hannukah if you celebrate it!  =)
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 12/01/2002 12:21:00 AM
-----
BODY:
HALLELULAH!

NaNoWriMo Count: 50,822.

Admittedly, it got a little rough towards the end, but with the loyal support of SkiDiva2001 and the lengthy prose of Alfred Lord Tennyson [the court poet in my novel decided it would be a good idea to recite the first couple cantos of "The Princess," muahahahaha.] I emerged triumphant!

<center><a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/"><img src="nanowrimo2002_winner_icon.gif" width="129" height="145" border="0" alt="NaNoWriMo 2002 Winner"></a></center>
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/29/2002 05:17:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd/" target="_blank">Happy Buy Nothing Day!</a>
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/28/2002 11:30:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b>NaNoWriMo Count</b>:  25,075.  I've made the half-way point!  Now just the other half to write and two days to go.  Heh.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/28/2002 06:34:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I'm thankful for . . .

<b>T</b>urkeys, those noble birds who sacrifice their lives for the happiness of others.
<b>H</b>olidays, especially when we get out of school for their observance.
<b>A</b>cquaintances, family, and friends, but mostly friends and sometimes family.
<b>N</b>ovels, namely those that will be finished within the next two days.
<b>K</b>ittens, especially those named Silvia, Romeo, and Malvolio.
<b>S</b>ongs, especially from my favourite artists/musicals.
<b>G</b>ood books, which I can spend my free time reading.
<b>I</b>nternet, the.
<b>V</b>egetarian meals, which I can eat in the stead of turkey.
<b>I</b>ce cream, of all flavours, even those with nuts.
<b>N</b>ice people, because they're better than mean people.
<b>G</b>ro.seye-nwo-reh, esuac' ti sedivorp em htiw na teltuo rof ym ytivitaerc.

At dinner this afternoon we made toasts.

Me:  To one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all!
My mater:  To peace on earth and no war with Iraq!
My pater: Death to the Iraqis!

:D  My daddy is so silly.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/28/2002 02:16:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Happy Thanksgiving and whatnot.

Norm: So, you guys going to do some of your comedy for us tonight? 

Cinder: Actually, Norm, Sarah and I feel that we'd be really remiss if we didn't use this platform to address an issue tonight. Um, we were at a Maya Angelou poetry reading, um, last night with Fiona Apple. She is so wise. Um, yeah. 

Sarah: Well, we were discussing the ritual torture and senseless slaughters of turkeys in the name of the gluttonous, nationalistic, patriarchal holiday that we call Thanksgiving. 

Cinder: [emotional] Right, and the sickest thing that Fiona told us is apparently that one company has a 1-800 number that gives out cooking tips and recipes encouraging the mutilation and consumption of these beautiful birds!

Sarah: [puts hand on Cinder's arm] Are you gonna be okay? 

Cinder: Yeah . . .

. . . So um, we wrote a song about it for all the turkeys out there who celebrate Thanksgiving. 

[long pause to get guitars] . . . It's called Basted in Blood

<i>We gather together for yams, beans, and cranberry sauce
But have you given much thought lately to the turkey holocaust?
20 million noble birds slaughtered every fall
Ain't no difference between Hitler, Stalin,
And the folks at Butterball! Butter-baaawww-aa-aaww-all! 

So set your tables, America, from Birmingham to Branson
But when you carve that turkey you're a finger lickin' Charlie Manson!
Enjoy your pumpkin pie, your buttery Idaho spuds, Grandma's chesnut stuffing
and . . . a turkey basted in blood!

Basted in blood! </i>(x3) [Sarah holds "oo" from "blood" to back up Cinder's frenzied singing]

Together: <i>Basted in-a-the-blood, basted in blood</i>, [Cinder sings something unintelligible in her frenzy]

[Simultaneously]

Cinder: <i>Basted in bloo-aa-uh-ud</i>

Sarah: <i>Basted in blaa-ah-ha-ya-hu-uh-hud</i> . . . . [holds]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/28/2002 11:37:00 AM
-----
BODY:
ARGH.  There was a conversation that I really wanted to post here, but I was on AIM rather than AIM+, so it didn't save it.  h8h8h8.

I guess I can summarize it though.  I need y'all's objective opinion.

Friend:  want to hear my funny story now?
Friend:  well
Friend:  read
Me:  Sure.
Me:  But only if it's REALLY SUPER DUPER funny.
Friend:  well, in that case . . .
Friend: never mind then
Me:  No, please do tell.
Friend:  okay, I have this friend shannon (not haley) and her gf came over
Friend: she's bi
Me:  Do go on.
Friend:  and she was like haven't you ever liked a girl?
Me:  Liked as a FRIEND, maybe.
Me:  Is what I would have said.
Friend:  haha, you know what I mean
Friend:  and I was just thinking what if I was lesbian and didn't even know it?
Friend:  maybe when I'm forty I'll find a woman and it'll just click
Friend:  that's why I don't like to say I'm straight
Friend:  I hate labels
Me:  I understand.
Me:  You fall in love with whoever you fall in love with.
Me:  Be it boy or girl.
Friend:  yeah
Friend:  I can't explain it
Me:  Well, then don't try.
Friend:  you're no help
Me:  Well, what do you want me to say?
Me:  I hate labels, too, [Friend]!
Me:  I think we're all bisexual at heart!
Friend:  haha
Friend:  lol you're great
Me:  I try.
Friend:  there's someone I like
Friend:  a female someone, as shannon would say
Friend:  what do I do?
Me:  I don't know.  What do you want to do?
Friend:  you're not helping
Me:  Sorry, this is me being a peer mediator.
Me:  We're supposed to let the people find their own solutions.
Friend:  well, be my friend
Me:  *be's your friend*
Me:  So who is this someone you like?
Friend: . . .
Me:  Don't you have a boyfriend?
Friend: haha yeah
Friend: but this person is cooler than him
Friend: much cooler actually
Me:  Oh, that was a DIS.
Friend: and smarter
Me:  Well, I would decide if you really like her that much or not.
Me:  And then I would tell your boyfriend.  And dump him, I guess.
Me:  I'm not really an expert on these matters.
Friend:  haha I know
Friend:  what if I just did tell them?
Me:  Tell who?
Friend:  the person I like
Friend:  you're out of it
Me:  Oh, sorry.
Me:  It's past my bedtime.
Friend:  mine too actually
Me:  You'll have to speak in one or two-word sentences to get your point across.
Friend:  okay
Friend:  I'm going to go to bed now
Friend:  night
Me:  G'night.

Finite.

So that's the conversation as best I can recall it.  Right after it happened I c&ped some of it to <a href="http://jesus.paradoxy.org" target="_Blank">Mimi</a>, so if she happened to have been using AIM+ [which isn't likely, but one can hope], she has the most important part of the conversation verbatim.

Anyway.  Am I being dense or paranoid?  Whenever someone is even the slightest bit vague, I assume s/he's talking about me.  But then I don't want to say, "Oh, are you talking about me?" 'cause then s/he would think I'm self-centered.  And if s/he IS talking about you, then they think you're really stupid because you don't realise.  I really wish I had the exact conversation because I probably forgot something important.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/27/2002 03:55:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Three cheers for the weekend and days off for giving thanks!

It did snow last night, but it was only like an inch, and it all melted away.  =(

We played <a href="http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/hangman/bard.shtml" target="_blank">Shakespeare hangman</a> today in English.  :D  First it was a free-for-all, where anyone could guess letters and if you knew the answer, you raised your hand.  I figured out <i>All's Well That Ends Well</i> [but Pete raised his hand before me ;-;] and <i>Measure for Measure</i>.  Then, 'cause not everyone in my class is a Shakespeare genius, they were all like, "Let's work in teams!  Let's work in teams!"  So Mr Lodewick was like, "All right, Pete, Kate, Kelly, and Tom are captains."

Then I had to go to the front of the class and pick people for my team and that wasn't cool 'cause I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not picking them.  Oh, well.  Then we were in teams, and I guessed <i>Coriolanus</i>, <i>Venus and Adonis,</i> and perhaps another one, I don't remember.  The last one before the bell rang was <i>Henry VI Part III</i> and I guessed "Henry VI Part Two" 'cause two had three letters and I wasn't thinking in Roman numerals.  That made me very sad.  But don't even worry, I'm still a Shakespeare genius.  :D

In German we played scrabble, which was crap because I kept thinking of English words.  My group still won anyway, though, so don't worry.  And we got yummy chocolate.  :D  [I probably use that face too often, but whatevs.]

I had a test in chemistry and math today, and I probably did pretty well on both of them.  Today we had a double period of chem for lab, but since we weren't doing a lab we used the first period to review.  Also, we did a crossword puzzle with chemistry puns for extra credit which was possibly the lamest thing I've ever seen.

An amusing prisoner?  Silicon!
Cash from your mother's sister?  Antimony!

Et cetera.  Chemistry is a silly class.  Oh, man!  Speaking of silly classes, in math after I finished the test, Krysta passed me a note so we were writing back and forth, only I tossed the note at her whilst Mr Kusner was looking and he was all, "Kate, can you please pick that up?"  So I had to get up out of my seat, walk over to Krysta, pick up the piece of paper on the floor by her desk, walk to the rubbish bin, throw the paper out, and walk back to my seat, and I was giggling the whole time 'cause Mr Kusner is a silly.  I blame Krysta because she is a bad influence on me.  I was a perfect student before I had to sit next to her.  ;P

My goal for tonight is to reach 25,000 words for my novel.  I can do it!  *thinks positive*
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/26/2002 08:28:00 PM
-----
BODY:
W00t!  The outline took me far less time than I was expecting.  I stupidly did not save and then my computer crashed, but it only took me ten or fifteen minutes to rewrite it, and besides, I had a chance to reorganize everything more logically while rewriting.

If you don't read <a href="http://web.morons.org/" target="_blank">morons.org</a>, you should.  Some recent articles I really enjoyed include <a href="http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=3&id=2524" target="_blank">Your Relationship with God</a> and <a href="http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=4&id=2528" target="_blank">The Heterosexual Agenda</a>.

Now off to work on my novel!  [Which I WILL finish by the end of this week.]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/26/2002 03:46:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Tonight is the night that procrastination ends.  I have to write my detailed outline for my term paper by tomorrow, and I WILL get it done.

And it BETTER snow or else.

[NaNoWriMo count: 17,724.  What am <i>I</i> thankful for?  No school Thursday or Friday.  Prime days for novel writing!]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/25/2002 04:52:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Oh, man.  I need to majorly prioritize.  There should be more hours in the day.  Or I should need less sleep.  Or I should never go to ACLU club, even though it is fun and super and I love it 100%.

<li> finish political and physical maps of Africa; study for map quiz
<li> Latin homework [did some in school; good work!]
<li> do chemistry review sheet thingummy
<li> read first chapter of the <i>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</i>
<li> work on outline for term paper [checked out a bunch of books from school library today; need to perfect thesis]
<li> write 5734 words of novel
<li> BUY NEW GYM CLOTHES 'CAUSE I LOST MINE AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN IN THE LOST AND FOUND AND I GOT MY HOPES UP BECAUSE THERE WAS A BAG OF CLOTHES ON THE BUS, BUT THEY WEREN'T MINE.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/24/2002 07:02:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Last night I attended a birthday celebration chez Ryan Collins, which was quite enjoyable.  =)  I went to Barnes & Noble to buy him a present, and now I've gotten all sorts of ideas for winter solstice gifts.  Honestly, I lovelovelove books.  I could spend the rest of my life in a bookstore, especially if it had a nice café, as B&N has.  <3

<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> count: 15,404 and I swear I am going to get 50,000 by the end of this week.  I don't know how I'm going to do it, but mark my words, I WILL.

Also, today is Sunday.  I'm sure some of you noticed that I forgot to do my little friend appreciation thing last week, and I'll have you know that that was entirely intentional.  Because, you see . . . well, Colin is such a dear friend I decided to dedicate two weeks of friend appreciation to him.  Er, yes, that's it.  Anyway, now for this week.

<b>Deirdre</b>
I've known Deirdre for quite some time in online years [one normal month = one online year], and as I've gotten to know her, I think I've begun to appreciate her worth more and more.  Last year, when I had that rabid crush on He-Who-Won't-Be-Named, she was extremely supportive of me to no end and boosted my self-esteem, and even drew me that cute picture. <3  Now I'm old and bitter and have a cynical attitude towards love, but she gives me hope yet.  It seems like whenever I talk to her, she's in love.  :D  And that is an inspiring thing.  Also, whenever she IMs me, she greets me with ALL-CAPS and exclamation marks and that makes me feel quite loved.  So, yes.  She's a real sweetheart and I love talking to her.  And because she's online at the same time I am so rarely, our conversations are all the more special.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/23/2002 02:26:00 PM
-----
BODY:
ARGHHH.  *rages at the world*

My report card came today.  First, the good news.  Nine "A"s, with a "Y" factor [Good Class Participation] in algebra and Latin, a "T" factor [An Asset to the Class] in chemistry and art, and a "Z" factor [Shows Initiative / Highly Motivated] in Latin.  I'm in all honors courses, so this is quite an accomplishment.

[Note:  If you tend to be of the you-obnoxious-whingey-bint-shut-up-and-put-things-in-perspective-and-be-grateful-for-what-you-have position, I would suggest skipping the next bit.]

Now, the bad, horrible news of despair and DOOM.  I got a "B" in academic access English!!!!!!111  Why?  Because my parents made me visit my dad's parents during September and I missed a day of school and didn't make up whatever we did that day in class.  Of course, this is largely my fault, but STILL.  We only have that stupid class once a week.  I didn't realize I had to make up the work before the next day of class.  I <i>hate</i> my school district with a burning flame of fiery passionate hatred.  "Oh, let's give sophomores completely pointless courses to prepare them for standardized tests so we will look super great and get lots of money!"  DEATH, DOOM, DESPAAAAAAIR!

Okay, I'm done.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/22/2002 04:59:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Because I stayed up past my bedtime last night talking to <a href="http://paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a>, I overslept this morning.  My mum woke me up at 6:45 and had to drive me to school.  And then, I thought I had left my chemistry notebook at home, so I called her and asked her to bring it in, but then third period I found it in my backpack.  Go team unorganised!

Oh, and Mr Beagle asked me if I would have been a hippie if I lived in the sixties.  I was like. . . um, I dunno.  And he said that's how he pictures me.  Then I whispered to KT that I wouldn't do drugs 'cause drugs are bad and I'm high on LIFE!

In art we got to draw this really cute boy's face today.  Well, I think he's really cute.  But I have very strange tastes.  I've realised I tend to judge guys' cuteness level by their clothing.  Like if he's really ugly and has nice clothing, that doesn't work, but if he's average, but wearing clothes that I enjoy, he becomes cute.  ^^;  I'm so superficial.  [Although I'm really not because I'm not attracted to boys who are stupid or annoying.  Intelligence and personality are factors, too, you see.]  Anyway, he's a senior or possibly a junior and he hangs out in Ms C's room and sometimes works on art projects and has really nice cheekbones, which I noticed whilst drawing them.  I think the face I did today turned out a lot nicer than the face I did on Wednesday of this other girl who hangs out in Ms C's room during my art period.  She is loud and rather whingey.

At 7:30 tonight I am seeing the school play.  =)  Should be q. interesting.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/21/2002 05:36:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<b>The Continuing Gym Clothes Saga</b>.

This morning I shoved my gym pants & my BIG t-shirt into my GAP bag even though the Gap is evil and ran out the door to my bus stop.  [I would like to pause here and say how much I enjoy the English language.  In English, you don't have to change the case of the word just because it follows a certain preposition.  Like it's "out the door."  Door stays the same.  I really appreciate that.]  There I met my pal Allison, and we boarded the yellow limousine.  All is well thus far.

The ride to school goes without a hitch, but when arriving at school there was a little mishap.  I was getting off the bus, when SLIP!SLAPSLAPSLAP.  I slid down the steps of the bus and fell back onto the stairs.  One, it hurt.  Two, it was more than slightly embarrassing.  But I blame the mud.  'cause I'm really not that clumsy.  Don't worry, though, I survived.  [Hey, hey!]

Anyway, then I sat in the cafeteria for ten or so minutes with my dawgz, then went to my locker, Allison's locker, Amay's locker, and first period.

Fast forward to after fifth period.  I go to my locker to get my bag of gym clothes, but:  GASUPAH!  There is no bag of gym clothes in there!  So sometime between when I left my house this morning and went to my locker, I must have lost it.  Fortunately I explained the circs to my gym teacher and she was all, "Since you've come to class every day, I won't take any points off today.  I hope you didn't lose your clothes."

Me:  ME TOO.  'cause I would bust a cap if I did.  [Not in the literal sense, like go shoot someone.  But I would be v. upset.]

She was really nice, though, and let me play ping-pong, even though gym teachers are usually like:  "J00 AIN'T GOT NO CLOTHES, SO J00 CAN'T PARTICIPATE, DIZZAWG."

Also, sith [old English for "since"—'tis used in <i>Othello</i> quite often] this week is American Education Week [what a joke!] our parents were allowed to come into school today [note how the word "school" doesn't change even though it's after a preposition.  In Latin, they use the same word for "in" and "into" and the only way you can tell the difference is the case ending of the word that follows it.] and in honor of that, each club set up a table in the lobby for guests to look at or whatever.  The ACLU club was no exception, so I got out of fourth period to [wo]man the table.  I was going to get out of third, but Mr Kummer was all, "We only meet three days a week, and we're going to be doing new stuff today."  And he did the thing where he acted as if he was giving me the choice, but he really wasn't.  Which frustrated me, but it was probably better that way.  After all, I would have missed learning all about the genitive case, and wouldn't that have been simply dreadful?

So instead I went fourth period and missed art.  Which was too bad 'cause I'd rather have missed something stupid like gym, but c'est la vie.  Our table was kind of lame.  Key Club had all these handouts and papers and shizznit and the marching band was playing videos of all their little thingies, but we just had a poster that said ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union in large letters 'cause they threw it together like the night before.  Don't worry, though, we improvised.  We taped a piece of crepe paper that said "ACLU Man" around Abe Hmiel's forehead and rolled up a piece of paper and put orange and red and yellow crepe paper on it and PRESTO!  Instant Torch of Liberty!  And then we stole name tags from another table, so he said:  "HELLO, my name is:  Freedom!"  "HELLO, my name is:  Liberty!"  "HELLO, my name is:  Justice!" et cetera.  And then we put a "HELLO, my name is: Oppression" on Monica and she stole one of the sabres from the color guard and they dueled in the middle of the lobby.  So that was exciting.  :D

And now I've got to go eat dinner.  Ciao.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/20/2002 04:02:00 PM
-----
BODY:
NaNoWriMo count: 13,003.

Oh, man.  Today on the bus we were discussing school pictures and smiles and Milessa told me to smile, so I made this hugely exaggerated smile, and then Milessa decided I look like Molly Shannon, but don't worry, I even don't.

Also, visit <a href="http://www.orangutan.org.uk/" target="_blank">Orangutan Foundation UK</a> and <a href="http://www.redapetrail.com/" target="_blank">Red Ape Trail</a>.  Links courtesy of my aunt Jacqueline, who says:

At any rate: I was remembering how when you were two I took you to the zoo and said, 
"Kate, look, there's a monkey!!" And you said (endlessly patient and precise)
"No, Aunt Jackie, I think that's an Orang Utan"

That's me.  >D  Nitpicking since I could talk.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/19/2002 04:15:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Or not.  Not only did I not get up early to write three hundred words of novel, but I also overslept and nearly missed my bus.  But you know, I've passed the 10,000 mark [10,772, to be exact] and that, I think, is quite an accomplishment.  20% done, baby.

Ooh, today was a good morning because I got to read Iago!  Mr Lodewick had been reading it because the person who was reading it in the beginning stumbled and Mr Lodewick was like, "This is a big part, do you mind if I just read it?"  And the kid was like, "Yeah, sure, whatev."  But today Mr Lodewick was like, "Does anyone want to read Iago?" and I was like:

HERMIONE!HANDRAISE!!!11

So I got to read Iago for the very last part of act two and into act three.  :D  Iago's great 'cause he has mucho long speeches.  And he's so damn evil!  J'adore l'Iago et le Shakespeare [l'Edward de Vere].  &lt;3

And guess what!  My Latin name is Lepida.  :D  After I picked Lepida, I decided I liked Hortensia better, but then it was too late.  So whatev.  I will just name my firstborn child Hortensia.

Talking of firstborn children, FRAUIE'S PREGNANT!  [Frauie = Frau E. = Frau Eichler = Ester Eichler, the German teacher I've had since I was a wee seventh grader.]

Oh, man.  Remember how yesterday Mr Palmer was like, "You've gotten none wrong so far."?  I got a 94.  :D  None wrong on the first two pages, but then three wrong on the third page.  But it was a pretty difficult test and the class average was like a seventy-something.  And this is an honors course.  Le sigh.  Children these days.  Oh, and for the last problem on the last page, I put "5f" instead of "4f," but he didn't notice.  I wasn't going to say anything ['cause I'm a Slytherin and all >D], but then I started feeling guilty.  And I was like, "If he had made a mistake in your favour, would you have told him?"  And of course I would have.  So then I was like, "Mr Palmer, I had "5f" instead of "4f," and you didn't mark it wrong."  He just said, "Okay," and didn't do anything about it.  So I'm guessing that means I get to keep my 94.  :D  Oh, and because everyone did so poorly, he made the test out of 96 instead of out of a 100.  So really my grade is 97.9.  :D

La vie est bonne.  [<a href="http://www.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a>'s helping me hone my French skizzills.  ;D  Talking of Colins, <a href="http://snarfy.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">this</a> one's going to whinge if I don't <a href="http://snarfy.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">plug</a> <a href="http://snarfy.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">him</a>.]

Except!  Remember those sexy pins I was talking about yesterday?  Well, Allison went to the bowl thing at 4:30 and she got SIX pins.  ;-;  Allison is a silly goose, let me tell you.  Today she said, "If Harry Potter was punk, you would be his girlfriend."  I guess 'cause I was wearing my Slytherin shirt and my sexy hemp necklace with the guitar pick that Stasia made for me.  Although I am not punk at all.  I am not any stereotype, actually.  Milessa said I'm "unique."  :D  Which is absolutely true, I think.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/18/2002 10:39:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Arr, I got within three hundred words of tonight's goal [11,006] and now my father's making me go to bed.  But don't worry, maybe I'll get up an hour early tomorrow morning to write those three hundred words.  Maybe.

Also, I haven't been in German class since Thursday.  I'm starting to forget all that I've learned!  Or not, but still.  Four days is a long time. 
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/18/2002 08:27:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Oh, jeez.  It was 6:29.  I was at my computer, chatting with all my homeslices, when ickle Nora comes into the room.

Nora: Your friend's at the door.
Me:  *stunned bewilderment*  *mind whirls, "Friend?  Door?  What?"* *looks at clock*  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  I COMPLETELY FORGOT!!!!1111one  *puts on glasses, coat, rushes to the door*  HI!  SORRY!  MUM, I NEED A CANNED GOOD!
Mater: *goes and gets some beans*
Me:  THANKS.  BYE.  GOTTA RUN.  *exits the house, dives into Marisa's car*  ONWARD!*

* This has been a dramatization of tonight's events.  Dialogue is not, perhaps, word for word.

So that was the Empty Bowl Benefit.  I got a nifty little blue bowl, had me some mighty spicy soup with iced tea and pumpkin pie for desert, and all was well with the world.  I also got these incredibly cute cards with rabbits and llamas and fish on them from <a href="http://www.heifer.org/" target="_blank">Heifer International</a>.  There were these kickass pins, but I wasn't sure if you were supposed to take them, but when I realised you were allowed, they were all gone.  Le sigh.  And Mr Ferro [one of the art teachers from our school] was there and he is the most adorable man ever.  <333  He is so cute.  And not even in like, "Oh, I'm sexually attracted to you; plz have my babiez!!!11" way, but in like, "OMG, YOU'RE SO CUTE!! SQUEEEEE!" and you automatically start smiling when you see him.  Oh, and there was definitely a Merry look-alike there.  Marisa can attest to it.  He LOOKED like him!

We had a chemistry test today, despite my prophetic dream in which we spent the whole period doing something else, so we didn't have to take the test.  But anyway, in real life I turned in my paper and was sitting there at my desk [which is in the front . . . hey, I just realised something.  I sit in the front row of a good deal of my classes.  Chemistry, English, and I was just moved front and center in world civ.  I mean, not because I was being particularly bad or anything, but because everyone changed seats for the new marking period.] and Mr Palmer was grading the first two multiple choice pages of the tests because he likes to grade things speedily and he looked up at me and gave me this look like, "o.O" and he was all, "You've gotten none wrong so far."

He might have said "one wrong," though, I'm not sure.  'cause when I was handing in my paper, I looked at his answer key, and I was pretty certain one of my questions didn't match.  But maybe not.  Either way, he didn't have to be all surprised about it.  I'M AN INTELLIGENT PERSON!  I 0WNX0R CHEMISTRY!

Oh, and this girl in my English class totally cut her hair short like me.  She had dreads before.  ^^  SHORT HAIR REVOLUTION!!!11one
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/18/2002 05:27:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Everyone should bestow their attention upon Yan because he is extremely capable and even, I daresay, proficient at using the United States postal system.  :D  Also, his handwriting is a lot nicer than Brinzy's.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/18/2002 01:22:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Ahh, football.  Apparently it's good for something, after all.

The homecoming football game was rained out on Saturday and rescheduled today for 1:30, so we got out of school at 12:44.  Wizz00t!  :D

Oh, and I figured it out.  If I write 3250 words a day from now until Nov. 30, I'll have 50,000 words.  So I think I can do that.  Maybe.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/17/2002 02:56:00 PM
-----
BODY:
NaNoWriMo word count: 7756.  I don't think I'm ever going to finish this stupid novel.  ><
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/17/2002 12:39:00 PM
-----
BODY:
NaNoWriMo word count: 6067.  Which is pathetic, because I ought to be past the half-way mark [25,000] by now, but whatev.  I'm not giving up till November 31 [i.e., never].  So I'll tell the tale of Homelessness Awareness Night to warm up, and then go off to bang out 22,266 words of novel.

In school Friday Milessa told me she'd pick me up around 4:30 [my mum couldn't drive me because she was off seeing Harry Potter without me], so I had assumed that we were supposed to be at the school at 5.  I was sitting in the living room, waiting to be picked up, reading an extremely outdated and poorly researched and sexist library book about body language, and the clock read 4:50.  I was worried she had forgotten me or had gotten lost [even though we live on the same street xP] or hated me and wasn't going to ever pick me up or whatever and that I would miss the bus [H.A.N. was happening at Upper Darby High School, so we were supposed to go to our high school, and then a bus was taking us from there].  Eventually she arrived and I learned that we weren't supposed to be there till 5:30.  So we arrived approximately a half hour early, which was a bit boring.

However, since we were the first ones there, we did get to be the first ones on the bus and had our pick of seats [the back, of course, is where all the cool kids sit].  The bus ride to Upper Darby was long [we had to stop at two other high schools to pick up their kids], but wasn't too boring.  Milessa and I talked about all sorts of fun things, like travelling and accents and our future careers [mainly her future career 'cause I have no idea] and number and names of our future children [again, it was she who had already decided how many children she was going to have and what their names would be].

When we arrived at Upper Darby, we had to wait in line and have our bags checked [I only had my sleeping bag, so I didn't have to be searched for prohibited food or electronics] and I got the impression that there were a lot more people than there actually were.  All in all, I think there were about 50 - 60 students and maybe 10 or so adults.  After we passed through 'security,' we had to sign a thing saying we agreed to follow all the rules and whatnot, and then we got nametags and were sent to put our stuff down in a gym.

After we tossed our stuff against one of the walls of the gym, we went into another gym which had bleachers and sat there.  The woman from Building With Books talked to us, went over the ground rules, and blah, and then we were separated into three groups for an icebreaker activity.  Sadly, Milessa was not in my group, but fear not, I survived.  In our groups, we stood in a circle and went around and said our name, our school, our grade, and what a home meant to us.  After everyone had said their bit, we formed two concentric circles so that each person was facing a partner and then we asked each other questions.  My partner was one of the few boys there and was black, as were the majority of the people not from Abington.  So I was like, "What's your favourite food?"  ['cause that's what we were supposed to ask.]  He said he didn't have one, but if he really had to pick it would be lasagna.  Then he asked me and I said ice cream.  He asked me what my favourite flavour is and I said cookies 'n' cream.  He agreed that that was a good flavour.

Then we moved on to the next person.  I think the question was: "Who would win in a fight, J.Lo or Janet?"  My partner said Janet and I assented because I'm not good at predicting the outcome of physical fights that most likely will never happen.

We moved to the next person and the question was "What person, dead or alive, would you want to have dinner with?"  I really hate these questions.  A lot.  I mean, maybe if I had a couple months to consider it, I could pick, but not in the blink of an eye.  So my partner said some music group that I'd never heard of and I said my friends because I would be uncomfortable and awkward and shy around people I've never met before.

Then we went back to the bleachers and someone who works at a shelter spoke to us, and then a representative from Project H.O.M.E. talked to us and showed us a movie, then a formerly homeless person talked to us and gave us fliers to her art show, and then we were separated into groups again.  My group decorated paper bags and then filled them with toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, deodorant, combs, washcloths, and other toiletries.  When we finished that, we moved to the next station, where a sleeping bag was being made.  First we anchored one layer of material to another and then we sewed around the edges to hold the three layers together, which was actually rather enjoyable.  I totally 0wn3d 7h47 sl33ping b4g.  I was like Betsy fricking Ross, baby.  :D

Then we moved onto the next station, where we were to write letters to Senators Arlen Specter or Rick Santorum, Mayor John Street, or City Council President Anna C. Verna.  But before we did that, we played this game where everyone stands in a circle.  The first person does an action for three beats while chanting "I wannabe likeyou."  Then when he finishes, the next person does that action, while he does a new action.  And it goes around like that in the circle.  For example:

Everyone: I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou, I wannabe likeyou [words divided into the three beats]
Person 1: claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around, hops forward, puts hands in the air
Person 2: watches P1, claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around, hops forward
Person 3: watches P2, watches P2, claps hands, gets jiggy, spins around
Person 4: watches P3, watches P3, watches P3, claps hands, gets jiggy

So there's a ripple effect and it's q. fun if everyone does it properly.  But then we had to go sit at a table and write letters.  Mine was crap, but they're hoping the sheer number of letters will motivate the people to act.

Once we finished, we returned to the main gym with the bleachers and sat down.  I was reunited with Milessa and we watched people play basketball and some black girls cornrow [I like to verb words. ;D] some white girls' hair.  I grumbled that homeless people didn't play basketball or braid each others' hair, but then homeless people don't have warm beds in suburbia to return to either, so we weren't replicating the authentic homeless experience exactly.

After that, we broke up into our groups again and reflected.  There were a couple questions we went around and answered, and then, finally, it was time for bed.  I was extremely tired [and had been since around 9:00 xP] and the time was 1:00-ish, I think.  So the girls went to their designated sleeping area and the 10 or so boys went to their designated sleeping area, and I rolled out my sleeping bag and fell a to the sleep, despite the noisy preppy girls from my school giggling and being generally obnoxious.

We got about six hours of sleep, I think.  I woke up around 5:30 and went to the bathroom and when I was coming back the door wouldn't open so I was v. scared that I had locked myself out of the gym, but then I noticed the sign next to the door that said "Janitor" and went a bit further down the hallway to the right set of doors.  I fell asleep again, but it seemed like I was woken up five minutes later, even though it was like 7:00.  The people in charge told us there was a basketball game at 8:00 in the very gym that we were sleeping in, so we had to get our stuff and clear out.  Milessa and I carried our stuff into the cafeteria and sat at one of the tables, ogling the tangerines and coffeecake and orange and apple juice.  Then one of the adults recruited us to put the "I Care" bags into larger trash bags for easier portability and while we were doing this everyone else went into the cafeteria and got to get their food, so we were a little sad that we weren't first in line.

And Upper Darby has slurpee machines in their cafeteria!  What's up with <i>that</i>?!

After we finished eating our breakfast, we answered some debriefing questions.  When we got to suggestions for future Homeless Awareness Nights, some girl from my school said she thought that we should be allowed food because we would be more productive that way.  Apparently some people can't survive without food for a night.  And another girl thought since we were doing good stuff we should get a reward!  Like, hello?  We're volunteering.  Our reward is that we're helping the community, blah blah blah.  If you want rewards, then get a paid job.  Honestly, people are so dumb.

Then we gathered our stuff and went outside to wait for the bus.  It was cold and raining and the bus was late, but I was just glad that we were going home.  The trip back was much quicker than the trip there had been because only our school was on the bus.  I had told my parents to pick me up at 10:15 because that's what the sheet had said, but around 9:15 Ms Farrington said we would be back at the school in ten minutes.  So I used someone's cellphone to call home, but I got the answering machine and left a message saying that I needed to be picked up at 9:30.

Around 9:30 the bus arrives at the school and everyone gets off.  It's cold and rainy still, and we huddle under a narrow roof that doesn't q. stop the rain from landing on us.  Eventually everyone gets picked up and it's just me.  Around 9:45 I walk over to where there's a bigger roof thingy and put my sleeping bag down on the dry bit of sidewalk and sit crosslegged on top of it.  My butt was probably the warmest part of me for the next half hour.  And let me tell you, that morning, waiting to be picked up, I felt 10 x more homeless than I had last night.  It was not fun.

At exactly 10:15, my dad pulls up.  I complain to him about waiting in the bitter cold for forty-five minutes and turn the heat way up in the car.  We got to Manhattan Bagel and I eat an onion bagel on the way home.  At home, I walk into the living room and my mater is all, "I missed you!" and I just stand there, glaring at her, while my dad plays the answering machine message.

"Oops," she says, but 'Oops' just doesn't cut it.  No, I wasn't mad at all, actually, because I am just a forgiving person by nature and I cuddled next to her on the couch, trying to steal her body heat while Nora watched Sailor Moon.

And that was that.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/16/2002 09:39:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Public Service Announcement: My brother is <a href="http://angelfire.com/realm2/snarfoogle/comic.html" target="_blank">weird</a>.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/16/2002 09:31:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Around 3:40 my mater and I arrived at our local movie theatre for the 4:00 showing of <i>HP and the CoS</i>, but it was s to the izz old out.  We bought tickets for the next time [4:50] and walked next door to the <a href="http://www.coffeebeanery.com/" target="_blank">Coffee Beanery</a> and had hot chocolate [me], tea [the mater], and a cheese danish [both.]  Also, I spotted a soggy dollar on the ground, so I picked it up and that made me feel special.  Finding money is always nice.  :D

So, le film de Harry Potter.  [Major spoilers ahead.  You were warned.]  I didn't like when Vernon fell out of the window and Harry was all, "Smile!  I delight in other people's injuries!"  And when he stabbed the diary with the fang.  Repeatedly.  With much gusto.  They're turning my poor, sweet Harry into an extremely violent boy.  ;-;

The Burrow setting was great.  Loved the pigs, loved the clock, loved the chairs, loved the fireplace.  &lt;3  Arthur Weasley is hardly thin, but he did the part pretty nicely, I thought.  It took me a while to recognise Percy!  He was looking q. cute in that scene.

Lucius Malfoy was excellent with his silly little snake scepter.  I was a little surprised with his "Avada—"  I don't think he would go so far as to attempt to kill Harry in the middle of Hogwarts.  But I guess when people lose their tempers . . .

Kenneth Branagh was AMAZING.  Seriously, he was a spectacular Lockhart.  And with q. a fashion sense.  ;D  His dueling outfit was love.  &lt;3  At the end, after all the credits [me mum and me sat there to the very bitter end because Sibling #1 said they had a tribute to Richard Harris or an extra scene or some such nonsense] there was a short little thing where it showed a shop in Diagon Alley, possibly Flourish & Blotts, and there was a poster for "Who Am I?" with Lockhart in a straightjacket looking dazed.  :D  Memory-loss!Lockhart was perhaps even better than Pompous!Lockhart.

And then of course there was the Snape-Lockhart interaction.  Rickman had far too few scenes, but the ones he did have were of course excellent.  I missed the part in the book where Lockhart does this dramatic bow with flourishes of his hands and Snape just barely inclines his head.  In the movie they both simply bow to each other, which was incredibly boring.  But Snape is lovely anyway.  Esp. when he picks up Draco during the duel and pushes him back toward Harry.  And one part that made me smile was the Snape-McGonagall tag team action where they tell Lockhart he should be the one to go save Ginny because he said he knows where the Chamber is.

Dumbledore was weak [I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it's true xP], although towards the end he smiled a bit, when telling Harry and Ron that they got awards and when telling the school that exams were cancelled, and that was good.

Crabbe and Goyle are super.  :D  They were brilliant as Harry and Ron.  And towards the end, when Crabbe stood up to clap and Malfoy pulled him down . . . that was great.

And now enough of the actors and on to other things.  I esp. loved the details of the movie.  All the moving Lockhart pictures, the bottle of Skele-gro, the statues.  Ooh, and talking of statues:  I adored the entrance to Dumbledore's office!  With the griffin and the spiral staircase . . . that r0x0red.

The animatronics, on the other hand, SUCKED.  Totally and completely sux0red hardcore.  I hated Fawkes [old Fawkes was just terrible, reborn Fawkes was slightly better], I hated the basilisk [it belonged in a Godzilla movie xP], I hated Hermione's cat face, and the close-ups on Aragog were totally unnecessary.  They should have just used CG.

The spider scene was incredibly scary, but I still can't fathom why they changed "Forbidden Forest" to "Dark Forest."  I mean, what the crap?  Oh, and the audience loved Ron's reaction to the spiders.  Harry is talking to Aragog and the entire theatre audience starts cracking up because Ron is looking up at the spiders and is just totally scared out of his pants.  :D  Ron is so lovely.  Other parts that made me literally gasp were when that scary hand grabbed Harry's in Borgin and Burkes, when Harry was laying in the sand and the bludger came hurtling at him, and when the basilisk shot up out of the water when Harry was kneeling by Ginny.

Oh, and the Whomping Willow!  I totally imagined it as a <i>willow</i> tree, not a freaky fake tree with like hands and stuff.  That was just weird and pjooey.

Parseltongue was totally kickass.  It sounded kind of like Hebrew, with the "ch"ing, but then of course there was all the hissing, which I don't think happens often in Hebrew.  Then again, I know no Hebrew, so I'm not one to talk.

Nitpicks.  A basilisk is basically an overgrown snake, right?  Snakes do not rely on their hearing so much as their sense of smell, right?  Why wasn't he sticking out his tongue like a normal snake?  And why on earth did Harry pick up the sword by the blade with his bare hands?  I mean, HELLO?  If it's sharp enough to pierce the basilisk's jaw, you'd think it would hurt his hands.  And if all the students are wearing earmuffs that block out the piercing shriek of the mandrakes, how on earth can the hear Professor Sprout's instructions?  There were other things that I noticed while watching the movie, but I've forgotten them now.  When I see it the second time [which I'm sure I will >D], I'll remember.

Oh, and I really enjoyed the flashback scene.  Young!Hagrid was extremely poorly done, but Tom Riddle was yum.  =9   Oh, and Moaning Myrtle was pretty good.  I loved her voice.  :D

I think that's all.  I'll blog about last night's affair tomorrow 'cause I am plumb exhausted.  xP
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/15/2002 03:29:00 PM
-----
BODY:
In approx. one hour Milessa is picking me up because it's *drum roll* . . . Homelessness Awareness Night!

And <i>Harry Potter and the CoS</i> comes out today, but I won't get to see it because of this pjoo-for-pjoo thing tonight.  Le sigh.  My life is so difficult.  ;)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/14/2002 09:16:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Finished my 75 notecards and chem lab [even though I left my lab book in my locker—Patty Greenfield is my hero. &lt;3].

I was thinking, it would be really cool if there was a medium with which to record and exchange thoughts.  There are symbols to express the sounds we make to communicate and with cameras we can record visuals as well as sounds.  Words can, to an extent, express thoughts, but you lose something in the translation.  It would be fun to be able to record what's going on in your brain and share it with other people, so you could see how other people think.  I would be really interested in that.

For example, I was reading about Japanese poetry for my research paper, then I was reading <a href="http://poetofillusion.blogspot.com" target="_blank">KT's poetry</a>, and then I was petting Malvolio and thinking, and then I was thinking about writing poetry, and more specifically writing poetry about what it's like to be human to be discovered at a later date by some alien race, but then I decided writing poetry was too difficult and recording thoughts would be a lot simpler.  Theoretically, of course.  In practice, I bet writing poetry is easier than figuring out how to record thoughts.  xP

But then, of course, that starts to lead to controlling the way other people think and spying on people by reading their minds, and that's not cool.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/14/2002 04:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I need to do like forty notecards tonight.  Blah.  Research papers are the bane of my existence.

In other news, we're reading <i>Othello</i> in English.  :D  Everyone is all whingey and "I haaaaaate Shakespeare!" but I am like:  xD!  I want to read a part, though, but I was too lazy to raise my hand when he was giving parts.  Hopefully we will switch soon and then I shall raise my hand.  :D  &lt;reading Shakespeare3

Homeless Awareness Night tomorrow.  ^^  We're making "I Care" kits and sewing sleeping bags, apparently, so that should be rather interesting.  Especially as I've never sewn anything in my life.  Well, almost never.  I think I made a horrible dress for a doll once.  But that doesn't count because it was the most pathetic thing ever.

And I've decided, against my better judgement, that I will attend the pep rally tomorrow.  It's only an hour long, after all.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/13/2002 04:05:00 PM
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BODY:
Yay, domain is back up.  :D

OMT, Yan, today in chemistry another teacher was in our class while we were doing our lab, and all the teachers at my school wear photo IDs, and this guy's thing said: Mr. Ryan Williams.  I nearly laughed out loud, but then I thought people might think I'm strange.  Which I am, of course, but I like to keep that under wraps.

And oh, man, I'm definitely quitting Key Club A to the SAP.  Not really, but their pledge is such crap.  We got a little booklet at the meeting today: The Key Club International Member Handbook 2002-03.  And on the <a href="http://www.keyclub.org/BeInformed/ClubResources/PledgeMottoObjects.htm" target="_blank">first page</a>, it has the pledge, the motto, the mission statement, and the objects.  I'm down with the motto [Caring - Our Way of Life], the mission statement [An international student-led organization providing its members with opportunities to perform service, build character, and develop leadership.], and most of the objects [to develop initiative and leadership, to provide experience in living and working together, blah, blah, blah], but listen to this pledge.

"I pledge on my honor to uphold the objects of Key Club International; to build my home, school, and community; to serve my nation and God and combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions."

It's like, EXCUSE ME?  You should have told me this before I joined.  I never said I would "serve my nation and God and combat all forces which tend to undermine these institutions."  Bah, humbug.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/12/2002 08:08:00 PM
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BODY:
Ha, watched first half of extended version of LoTR despite other obligations.  Highlights:  Pippin singing at the Green Dragon and Aragorn singing in elvish.  :D  They are my two favourite characters and totally amazing x 8.  <3
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/12/2002 04:08:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Random, completely unconnected thoughts starting . . . now!

Argh.  Stupid server being down.  ><  If it doesn't get back up soon, I shall llora y llora por veintidós dias.

Mr Kummer was listening to the Strokes today.  I was like, SQUEE!

Pep rally is Friday, but I CAN'T GO as also on Friday is Homeless awareness night where I sleep over at a mock-shelter.  Blah.  Not that I am exceptionally big on school spirit, but each class does skits, and I would have liked to see them.  =(  Le sigh.

Today is the day the special LoTR DVD comes out, but I can't watch it because I'm so busy and I've got homework and my NaNoWriMo novel and my term paper and everything.  ;-;

You become writer by writing. It is a yoga. -R.K. Narayan, novelist (1906-2001)

My maternal figure forced me to do Tai Chi with her for half an hour after school.  It was crazy stuff.  :D  The different positions are called like "Carry a tiger up a mountain" and "Wave hands like clouds."  It's fun, but surprisingly difficult.

Brinzy snail-mailed me Office XP on a CD and it arrived today!  :D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/11/2002 04:58:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Man, I am like the ditziest person ever.  Or if not, then just extremely forgetful.  Last Thursday [I have gym Tuesdays and Thursdays] I left my bag of gym clothes in Ms Schillingsburg's room after school ['cause that's where the Building With Books meeting was].  I remembered that I had forgotten it as I was walking across the field to the junior high for tutoring and I wasn't about to turn around and go all the way back to get it.  I told myself I'd get it the next day because my world civ. room is right next to Ms Schillingsburg's.  But then the next day my world civ. class met in the library to work on our term papers, so I didn't have a chance.  Then, this morning I tell Ms Farrington [my world civ. teacher]: "I left my gym clothes in Ms Schillingsburg's room on Tuesday."  She told me I could go get them now, so I went in there and sure enough, there they were on the ledge by the windows.

Fast forward to after school.  I get all the books I need for homework and my coat and remember my bag of gym clothes.  I need to take them home to wash them 'cause I've got gym tomorrow.  But they aren't in my locker.  So I am like DIZZAMN.  Then Marisa comes up to me and is like, "I forgot to ask Mr Kummer if there's an ACLU meeting today, but I can't go anyway."

Me:  Okay.  There probably isn't, 'cause there's a yearbook meeting today in the same room, and that happened last week and the meeting was cancelled last week.
Marisa:  Yeah, and it wasn't on the announcements this morning.
M:  Yeah.  Okay, see you.
M:  Bye.

I debated for a few minutes about whether to go in search of my gym clothes and miss the bus or just catch the bus and forget about my stupid gym clothes.  In the end, the first alternative won because I had gym tomorrow and I wasn't about to wear smelly, dirty gym clothes.  I'm about to go upstairs to my math class, which I have seventh period, but then I remember I had lunch today, so I would have put my gym clothes in my locker by seventh period.  Instead I go to my chemistry class [fifth period] and no gym clothes there.  I go to my art class [fourth period] and no gym clothes there.  Third period I had Latin and my locker is on the way to that room, so I stop at my locker just to make sure I didn't accidentally overlook them.  I didn't.

While I'm at my locker, the ACLU crowd passes me and the president [Let's call him . . . "Kevin"] tells me we're meeting in one of the cafeterias, A or B, he's not sure yet.  I'm like, okay, and then I go to room 155, which is filled with yearbook-type people.  Mr Kummer is all, "You're meeting in the cafs today."

M:  I know, but . . . did I leave my gym clothes in here?
K:  Yeah, I put them on the chair under my desk.
M:  *goes, pulls out a chair*
K:  The other one.
M:  *giggles nervously at own stupidity and pulls out other chair*  Ahh.
K:  Yeah, they were stinking up my room the whole day.  People kept asking what that horrible smell was.
M:  *grin*  Thanks.  xP

And then, since I was informed of the ACLU meeting, I mosied on over to cafeteria A, where my ACLU dawgs were at.  Kevin was all, "Is your little friend coming today?"  And I was all, "No, she can't make it."  So you were sorely missed, Marisa.  ;D

The meeting was quite enjoyable, as usual, and there is a surprising number of Harry Potter fans in the ACLU club.  Today I wore my Slytherin shirt [mostly because I didn't have any other clean shirts xP] and everyone was like, "Oh, I'm Hufflepuff."  And then we were talking about the harrypotter.com website and the movie and book five, but don't worry, only briefly, and then we moved on to the real meaty ACLU issues, such as standardized tests and Iraq and the federal government and welfare and the media and <i>Bowling for Columbine</i> and our field trip to <a href="http://www.justicetalking.org/upcoming.asp#show2" target="_blank">Justice Talking</a>.

It's funny how the simple act of wearing a shirt can make you learn things about people that you didn't know before.  Earlier today Jen Brotman was all, "Oooh, Slytherin!  My mom's making me a green and grey scarf ['cause they don't have silver yarn.]" and Shannon Haley told me I was "bad" and that when she went to the hp.com site she got sorted into Gryffindor.  I was like, "Oho, you silly."

And talking of the ACLU, last night I dreamt I was smoking pot.  But I blame <i>The Simpsons</i> for having that episode in which Homer took medicinal marijuana last night and my dad for always accusing me of doing drugs at my friends' houses.  xP

We need 75 notecards for our world civ. term paper by Friday.  I hate it when they walk you through papers like this, but I suppose it's really people like me that they do this for 'cause I procrastinate to the mizzax.  So I've got it all planned out:  I do twenty cards tonight, twenty Tuesday, twenty Wednesday, and then fifteen Friday.  It should be easy-peasy.

I had something else to say about atheism, but I've forgotten it now.  Ah, well.  Can't have been that important.  Oh!  I remember.  The one thing that's not cool about not believing in heaven or any sort of afterlife is the idea that I'll never be able to meet dead people or watch the future of humanity unfold.  'cause I'm an insanely curious person and I think it would be amazing to talk to people from the past, from any time period.  And I definitely regret x 100 that I won't be able to see what the world will be like in two hundred years, or two thousand years.  It's just not fair, dude.  And talking of atheism, <a href="http://filebox.vt.edu/users/dwatson/quotes.html" target="_blank">here</a> are some fun quotes.

Oh, and I was extremely bored in chemistry today, so I figured out my name in atomic numbers of <a href="http://www.webelements.com/" target="_blank">elements</a>: 19 85 1 68 53 10  6 2 10 39.  See, that's potassium, astatine, helium, erbium, iodine, neon, carbon, helium, neon, and yttrium, or: K At H Er I Ne  C He Ne Y.  [Yeah, I'm a dork.  Shut up.  xP]

And I realise this was pretty long and rambling [though not so much as yesterday's], but if you don't want to read, you don't have to.  =P
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/10/2002 05:21:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Finished the pjooey <i>Ethan Frome</i> questions at last.  I really don't enjoy dissecting books like that.  It takes a lot away from my enjoyment of the book, y'know.  Tone and symbolism and everything are great stuff and add to the overall quality of the book, but I can appreciate them without having to answer questions about them.  So a great big thumbs down to that.  However, Lodey hinted that these one hundred and thirty-one questions would count as the test, so on the bright side we don't have to take an <i>Ethan Frome</i> test.  ^^

Talking of books, Friday night I stayed up till nearly one o'clock reading <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743417712/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Third Witch</a></i>, which was good stuff.  ^__^  Shakespeare [and by Shakespeare of course I mean de Vere] is so much fun.  Especially when rewritten from a womyn's point of view.  =)

And still on the track of books [and Shakespeare, to an extent], I would like to read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345392825/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Reviving Ophelia</i></a>.  Shirley had a copy of it with her last night, and I was flipping through it and was q. intrigued.

Last night [before I went to Krysta's] I was online and Will Bruce IMed me.  With little preamble ["hi kate."  "Howdy."] he said:

will IS happy 01 (5:17:18 PM): so, do you hate christians?

I was completely baffled.

a l m e DASTAR (5:17:24 PM): o.O No.

will IS happy 01 (5:17:45 PM): oh.
will IS happy 01 (5:17:51 PM): i didn't get that thang on ur profile

Ahh, now I understand.  In my profile is a quote I found on <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_bibl.htm" target="_blank">religioustolerance.org</a> whilst researching abortion for ACLU.  [We're making a bulletin board, and one quarter is going to be dedicated to controversial topics, and I volunteered to get some stuff on abortion.]

"In 2001, about 76% of North Americans considered themselves Christian (A drop of almost 10 percentage points since 1991). An examination of biblical passages on the status of a fetus and abortion may thus be of interest to most of the public."

I put it in my profile merely 'cause I found it interesting.  I didn't realise the percentage was so high and I was intrigued that the number has dropped so much in the past ten years.  I explained this to young William and then:

will IS happy 01 (5:24:47 PM): what is your religious preference anyway
a l m e DASTAR (5:24:54 PM): None.
will IS happy 01 (5:25:03 PM): yea?
will IS happy 01 (5:25:04 PM): why's that
a l m e DASTAR (5:25:09 PM): Well.
a l m e DASTAR (5:25:29 PM): Because none of the current religions align with my system of beliefs.
a l m e DASTAR (5:25:44 PM): Or if one does, I haven't found it.
will IS happy 01 (5:25:54 PM): what's your system of beliefs
will IS happy 01 (5:25:59 PM): at least the strongest ones
a l m e DASTAR (5:26:41 PM): The biggest thing is that I don't believe in a god or divine figure. This pretty much cancels out the majority of religions I know.
will IS happy 01 (5:26:57 PM): see, i could def. never say that
a l m e DASTAR (5:27:11 PM): I know. =) That's why you're a Christian and I'm not.
will IS happy 01 (5:27:25 PM): well, atheism is belief in no god
will IS happy 01 (5:27:34 PM): haha
a l m e DASTAR (5:27:35 PM): Yes, but I don't consider it a religion.
will IS happy 01 (5:27:43 PM): good pt
a l m e DASTAR (5:27:50 PM): So I am atheist, yes.
a l m e DASTAR (5:27:59 PM): But there's no church of atheism or anything. :P
will IS happy 01 (5:28:07 PM): haha yes there is
a l m e DASTAR (5:28:10 PM): Is there reallY?
will IS happy 01 (5:28:12 PM): we call it the trocadero
a l m e DASTAR (5:28:14 PM): xD
will IS happy 01 (5:28:17 PM): i gotta go
a l m e DASTAR (5:28:19 PM): Ciao.
will IS happy 01 (5:28:22 PM): lata
will IS happy 01 (5:28:32 PM): :P
will IS happy 01 signed off at 5:28:39 PM. 

I hate having to defend or explain myself.  Especially regarding atheism.  It's like, Why do you not believe in the tooth fairy?  Why do you not believe in Santa Claus?  Yeah, well, that's why I don't believe in a god.

Immediately after he signed off, I got off and went to wait in the living room for Krysta to pick me up, I was thinking about what he said [I tend to dwell on things] and this popped into my head:

<i>I look to science for explanations;
I look inward for ethics;
I look to my family for unconditional love;
I look to my friends for a sense of belonging;
I do not fear death.

What else does religion have to offer?</i>

I thought that was mighty clever of me and wrote it down so I wouldn't forget.  ^^;  I don't know why you have religion, but I can't think of anything else that I need that a religion could provide for me.

And then Krysta arrived and off I went.  ^^  It was really, really fun last night.  We ate fondue and nutella and made s'mores and did karaoke and jumped on the trampoline.  I haven't been on a trampoline in ages, but oh, are those things fun.  And really liberating and tension-breaking too.  First it was just Shirley, Krysta, and I, and I don't know Shirley that well, and when I first got there Shirley and Krysta were singing Christian songs out of some book of Christian songs and I felt a bit left out because a] I can't sing for shizznit and b] if I could sing, I most likely wouldn't be singing worship songs.  So I flipped through Shirley's copy of <i>Reviving Ophelia</i>, but then we went out on the trampoline and within, I dunno, thirty seconds we were all laughing hysterically.  About things that, upon reflection, were probably not even that funny.  But that's the magic of trampolines.  :D

So that was fun and karaoke was fun [even though, as I said, I can't sing] and s'mores are always fun.  We were outside toasting marshmallows with real sticks over a real fire when Krysta turned to me and the topic of my atheism came up again.  [By this time a girl named Ruth from Krysta's church had arrived, so it was me, Krysta, Ruth, and Shirley, and Shirley and Krysta were singing songs again and Ruth was correcting them when they got the lyrics wrong, so that's probably how the subject came up.]

K:  You don't go to church, do you?
M:  Nope.
K:  Are you anti-church?
M:  No.  xP  I just don't go.
K:  [half-joking] Are you an atheist?
M:  Actually, I am.  :P
K:  Why?
M:  Well, why not?
K:  Well, I believe in God 'cause I'll go to hell if I don't.  [That's basically what she said; I think I might have gotten the wording wrong.]
M:  See, that's the thing.  I don't believe in god, so I don't believe in hell either.  :P

And then Krysta appealed to Shirley for help.

M: *sarcastic*  What, so she can convert me?  ;P
K:  No, I just don't know what to say . . . Shirley's good at preaching.

And then Krysta and Shirley started talking about one time when S. told K. to look at people through the eyes of Jesus and I went over to get another marshmallow and the topic didn't come up again.

I dunno.  Religion and friends aren't a very good mix unless you have the same religion as your friends, in which case it provides j'all with a common bond.

Oh!  Today is Sunday, isn't it?  Well, let's see.

<b>Colin</b> [Look, I'm going in alphabetical order!  A(llison), B(rinser), C(olin)!]
I love talking to Colin because he always makes me feel like I'm the cleverest, specialest person around.  He is chicken soup for my self-esteem.  &lt;3  And you might think, with all my bragging about grades and such that I have a very healthy self esteem, but if you think that you would be wrong.  I have feelings of self-doubt and sometimes even self-hatred just as much as the next person.  :P  So, anyway, back to Colin.  He is funny and sexy and smart and you just want to cuddle him because sometimes he gets into these moods like Malcolm had in that <i>Malcolm in the Middle</i> episode where they go to the zoo and Malcolm and Dewey get trapped in the tiger pen.  Also, we have many things in common [we both live in Pennsylvania, we both enjoy <I>His Dark Materials</i>, &c.] and that's always fun.  So, yeah, that's Colin.  He's a sweetie and a half.

And since we're discussing atheism today [well, mostly me, but then, isn't that the way of things?  I'm the one who does all the talking around here.  ;D], I'll share a little story about how I found atheism.  I'm not sure when it was.  I guess sometime between sixth and eighth grade.  Well, I think I need to start earlier.  First of all, my parents did not raise me religious.  I went to church on Christmas and Easter, but that was mostly for my grandmother's and aunts' and uncle's sake.  As I got older, I was forced to attend church less and less.  Then, around seventh grade, I think, I got really interested in wicca [to my shame, <a href="http://www.whywiccanssuck.com/" target="_blank">fluffbunny wicca</a>] and started researching the different branches online.  I liked wicca's feminism and the basic rede ["An ye harm none, do what ye will"], but I could never committed 'cause I couldn't make myself believe in a god [or even a goddess].  And I think at that point I realized that I was, like it or no, atheist.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/09/2002 01:05:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Okay, this morning I wake up sometime between 6 and 7, look at my clock, roll over and go back to sleep.  Sometime between 7 and 8, repeat.  Sometime between 8 and 9, repeat.  I finally get up c. 9:36, jump into the shower, and get dressed.  I have time to eat breakfast and then I run to the door and there's Rachel.  So we hop in her car and ride to St. Peter's Episcopal Church.  [The lady coordinating it called me and Rachel last night to give us the details, but since Allie only signed up yesterday, she didn't call her, so Allison thought it was at Glenside Weldon and had a hella hard time finding the place, but don't worry, she showed up.  ^^]  When we arrive, we are under the impression that we are going to work at the ticket booth.  Not so.  We're sent into the basement to do arts and/or crafts.  I have to punch holes in these paper plate tambourines, which is really hard and pjooey.  But then the womyn doing the arts 'n' crafts learned that I had done face painting before, so then I was recruited for face painting.  That was all right, but the face paints were really crap and hard to use.

Then at around 12:30 Rachel had to leave, and so did I 'cause my parents have fled the country and I didn't have any transportation home.

Now I'm home and Krysta's [this is apparently the correct spelling of her name now, even though she's spelled it Krista since seventh grade when I first met her.  xP] having a birthday party type thing tonight and I don't know how I'm going to get there and I have no gift for her and blah!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/08/2002 08:36:00 PM
-----
BODY:
NaNoWriMo word count: 5278.  Days left: 22.

Well, I've more than doubled my word count since last time, but I'm still more than 8000 words behind schedule.  Argh.  On the bright side, the plot is beginning to pick up speed.

Tomorrow morning I'm volunteering for a Music Fest or some such crizzap.  Rachel, Allie, and I are working at the ticket booth, woohoo.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/08/2002 04:11:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Friday at last.  Hallelujah!

<a href="http://oldsci.eiu.edu/psychology/Spencer/Maslow.html" target="_blank">How to self-actualize</a>.
"A. Pay attention to the world around you. Can you close your eyes and describe the campus?

B. Make risky choices. Try to expand your world, learn from failures.

C. Trust yourself more. Similar to Roger's organismic trusting.

D. When in doubt, tell the truth. This will simplify your life.

E. Recognize the need for discipline. Get the requirements of life out of the way quickly.

F. Cultivate peak experiences (non-chemical variety). Best way to do this is to pay attention of the world and your feelings.

G. Give up your highly-valued pathologies. Experiencing a lot of pain is not sensitivity - it is dumb. Get rid of psychological garbage."

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." -Viktor Frankl, author, neurologist and psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor (1905-1997)

I really enjoy that second quote.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/07/2002 04:40:00 PM
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BODY:
HA!  So it definitely took me all of last night to answer the questions on the introduction and chapters one through four [excluding the hour I spent on the computer when I got home and the hour in which I watched <i>The Simpsons</i>] and there was no possible way I could do chapters five through ten AND my art project tonight, and I was really sad and stressed out, but THEN. . .

Mr Lodewick's mercy droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven, and he made them due Monday.  &lt;3 x sideways 8.

So now I've really got to go do my stupid art project.  Toodlepip!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/06/2002 03:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Here are some things I don't enjoy: art projects which we have to work on at home and <i>Ethan Frome</i>.

By Friday, I have to complete my stupid still life of plushie Luna [from BSSM], the evil Queen from Snow White statuette, my walk[wo]man, and action figure Rosie from <a href="http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/abl/">A Bug's Life</a>.  I am not good at motivating myself to do art at home.  ><

And I have to read the entire book of <i>Ethan Frome</i> [stupid Edith Wharton] and answer a gazillion questions [and by a gazillion, I of course mean one hundred and thirty-one, some of which have multiple parts] by Friday as well.  Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Fortunately, I don't have to do a chem lab writeup this week because our lab will take two weeks.  [And by two weeks, I mean two days, but Wednesday is our lab day, so.]

As soon as I start NaNoWriMo, my teachers decide I should be given lots of work.  xP  Pjooheads.

Ooh, but I did get a 97 on my math test.  :D

School is so dreary.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/05/2002 08:15:00 PM
-----
BODY:
AHHHHH.  Why are they so <a href="http://www.tobiasjost.de/cos/HD2.mov" target="_blank">cute</a>?!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/05/2002 07:18:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Well, I finished my powerpoint presentation for German at last, and I didn't even have to use XP.  See, my computer is crap and Win98, but so is my brother's computer and he has Powerpoint, so I just made him sign on AIM, and then send it that way.  [It was too big to e-mail it.]

It is quite darling, I think.  We had to make all these sentences like "When I was a kid, I could. . . " and "When I was a kid, I liked. . ." and I accompanied the sentences with baby pictures.  :D

I really and truly love photographs.  I was looking through all our old photos in search of sentence-appropriate ones, and it just brings up so many lovely memories.  :D  I think I'm going to stick them up around my room now.  Maybe I'll even scan some for your viewing pleasure.  >D

Also, apparently I'm one of <a href="http://vortex.kiss-my.net/mt/" target="_blank">this girl's</a> dailies.  So that makes me feel honoured, even though she is a good-for-nothing Wiccan.  ;D  And <a href="http://www.blotts.org/" target="_blank">Maddy</a> has a new [to me] layout, which is lovely as usual.  And I sent <a href="http://www.kiss-my.net/" target="_blank">this girl</a> a letter of complaint about <a href="http://www.kiss-my.net/anti" target="_blank">her clique</a>.  Would you like to read it?  Of course you would.

<i>Okay.  I found your clique, and I have a few comments about it.  First, though, I would like to say that this isn't a flame.  I'm not trolling; I'm not trying to make you mad.  I'm politely disagreeing.  
 
And before I even start, I'd like to say that yes, I'm a girl.  I do like the colour pink, but hell, pink's just a colour.  I wear dresses sometimes, but mostly I wear jeans.  I don't think that says anything about me.  I rarely wear nail polish, not because it "bugs me," but because I'm too lazy.  And I never wear make-up.  And I like Björk.  ;P
 
Now, on to why I have a problem with the clique.
 
I think you're just reinforcing the stereotype that girls a) like pink, b) wear dresses and makeup, and c) are generally prissy and unathletic.  Yeah, it's cool that you like big dogs that drool and don't have a problem with burping, but aren't you a girl?  So how can not thinking burping's rude and that big, slobbery dogs aren't monsters be anti-girlie?
 
And "4] you'd rather hang with the guys than the girls (and not to get down and dirty)" really kills me.  Not all girls are squeamish just as not all guys are jocks.  I'd rather hang out with my friends [guys and girls alike] than stereotype one sex and only make friends with members of that sex.  And implying that "girlie girls" only want to hang out with guys for sex borders on ridiculous.
 
Anyway, I just think your clique is kind of misdirected.  If I were you [which I'm certainly not, so please don't interpret this as me telling you what to do] I would change the goal of my clique to redefine "girlie" rather than continue the "girlie-girl" stereotype.  As in, "Girlie is: to play football," "Girlie is: to listen to Björk," "Girlie is: to snowboard," "Girlie is: to webdesign," "Girlie is: to wear whatever I want," "Girlie is: to laugh at dirty jokes," etc.  
 
What I'm getting at is that "girlie" is whatever girls do or are.  Some girls are self-centered preps whose lives revolve around makeup and clothes and boys, but should we let that minority define us as a gender?
 
And if you think that's the shittiest idea you've ever heard and I'm talking out of my ass, then that's okay.  But I would at least suggest changing the name of your clique from anti-girlie to anti . . . well, I don't know.  Anti-make up or anti-stereotype or anti-pink or anti-nail polish or anti- whatever it is you have a problem with.
 
On the other hand, you could decide I'm full of crap and ignore me entirely.  It's completely your choice.  I'm just writing because I don't think an anti-girlie girl can really exist.</i>

Nevermind about Office XP.  I <i>did</i> download it from KAZAA, but I'm too scared to do anything with it, lest it totally ruin my computer forever.  So Brinzy is kindly sending me a CD of it.  =)  He's such a nice young lad.

And I hope everyone over the age of 18 and a citizen of the United States voted today.  >|  Or else.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/05/2002 12:44:00 PM
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BODY:
Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if one downloaded Office XP 2002 Professional from KAZAA?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/04/2002 09:47:00 PM
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BODY:
I'd just like everyone reading this to know how much I love my AUNT JANE.  She is my mother's younger sister and her name is Jane Elizabeth, therefore making her my AUNT JANE.  She is nice because she lends me Halloween costumes and buys me books from the library and does all sorts of nice things, which she deserves credit for.

And then there is my AUNT JACKIE, my mother's other younger sister, whose full name is actually Jacqueline.  She isn't in my cast list, but that's not because my love for her is any less, but rather because I haven't had anything nasty to say about her in my blog, and therefore haven't needed to explain her identity in my cast list.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/04/2002 09:33:00 PM
-----
BODY:
NaNoWriMo word count: 2505.  Days left: 26.

Which is definitely behind schedule, but that's okay.  I'm starting to get a feel for this, so hopefully it'll come easier in the near future.  =)

Also, I'm proud of myself, because I haven't been going back and reading what I've written.  I mean, I'll read maybe the last paragraph or so, to keep the story slightly continuous, but I'm not going back and editing and changing and fixing.  'cause this month is all about building, not tearing down.  =)
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/04/2002 04:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Bugger and blast.  The ACLU meeting was cancelled today, so that's a definite thumbs down.  And when I called my mum, I remembered she had a doctor appointment scheduled for three o'clock today, so she couldn't pick me up.  I had to stay after school and watch the silly play rehearsal, so KT could drive me home.  And by KT, I of course mean Katie's pater.

On the bright side, tomorrow is ELECTION DAY!  :D  No school, w00t.

Today in world civ. we discussed politics [sort of] and we took a survey to find out if we were liberal or conservative.  Not surprisingly, I answered liberal to twenty-three questions and conservative [to my utter shame ;D] to two.  One was about affirmative action, so pah.  Also in world civ. we got our tests from last fricking Tuesday back.  91/95 on mine, go team.  And I got perfect on the first page [multiple choice and fill in the blank], but lost the four points on the short answer and essay.  Essay, schmessay, that's what I say.

=)  I learned how to say "her own" in Latin today: sua.  So all I need to know is "eyes" now.  ;D  "Ihre Augen" is German.  Well, that's "her eyes."  Don't know how to say "own."  xP

OH, MY FOOT!  We totally watched the ending of <i>The Crucible</i> and it was totally the saddest movie I've ever seen.  [I apologise—I'm doing the exaggeration thing again.]  But really, I was definitely tearing up and I had that burning feeling in your throat when you're making an effort not to cry and it was so awful.  And stupid Abigail Williams.  And dear, dear John Proctor.  And sweet old Rebecca Nurse.  And those fools Danforth & co.  And that bitch Mary Warren.  Talk about peer pressure, tchah.  Man, that was one of the more powerful movies I've seen in a while.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/03/2002 06:51:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Some non-concert related points.

Un, a few things which I noticed today that bothered me.  "Let the faithful rejoice in triumph / let them be joyful on their beds / Let the praises of God be in their throat / and a two-edged sword in their hand / To wreak vengeance on the nations / and punishment on the peoples / To bind their kings in chains / and their nobles with links of iron / To inflict on them the judgement decreed / this is glory for all his faithful people.  Hallelujah!"  That strikes me as obnoxiously self-righteous.  Maybe I just feel left out becuase I'm not one of "the faithful," but still.  What happened to blessed are the peacemakers?  Isn't that awfully hypocritical?  Then again, I admit that I myself am hypocritical, so perhaps that's just a human thing.  [I'm such a devil's advocate.  ><  I think . . . , but on the other hand. . . ^^;]  One thing I enjoyed today [about the only thing xP] was "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?"

Deux, I finished <i>Memoirs of a Geisha</i> today.  The ending was kind of weak, I thought.  Everything worked out too perfectly; it was unrealistic.  But other than that, it was an amazing book.  &lt;Japan3

Trois, there's a gratuitous boob shot on cam, if you like that sort of thing.  ;D  It's my Yeah Yeah Yeahs shirt, but my poor quality cam didn't do it justice.  There's supposed to be two bunnies on it.  ^^;

Quatre, Butterfingers R0X0R, Britney.  You lose.

Cinq, Paint Shop Pro is being an arse, so I can't have a new layout up for a while.  Yes, I have Photoshop, but I'm not familiar with that enough to use it to make a decent layout.  ><

Six, I think last Sunday I said I would say something nice about someone every Sunday, so, here goes.

<b>Brinzy</b>
I heart Brinser because he always finds time to talk to me, even though I am a lowly high school student and he is old and in college.  ;D  I appreciate that he talks to me like I'm an intelligent human being, I enjoy our philosophical [however rare] discussions, and I love to hear his opinions on things because he always seems so rational and logical and non-affected by petty human emotions.  He is v. grounded, I would say, but at the same time v. fun.  So, yeah.  That's Brinzy.  =)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/03/2002 09:44:00 AM
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BODY:
Yesterday morning I got up, wrote some crap for NaNoWriMo, then was forced to walk around the neighborhood in the bitter, bitter cold distributing political pamphlets reminding everyone to vote, then got home and began to read <i>Memoirs of a Geisha</i>, which I am absorbed in entirely and enjoying immensely [each word of that clause excluding "which" began with a vowel xD], then around 6:00, 6:30 Stasia Ork called and was like. . .

S:  I'll pick you up around seven, mmkay?
M:  Huh?!
S:  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs in concert. . . tonight. . .
M:  AHHHHH, that's tonight?!
S:  Yes. . .
M:  Okay, well, um.  See you at seven, then.
S:  Okay.

Fortunately I had already taken a shower today or I would never have been ready in time.  Actually, I probably would've been because Stasia didn't arrive until 7:30ish, but still.

We arrive at the <A href="http://www.thetroc.com/" target="_blank">Trocadero</a> at around 8:00.  The doors actually opened at seven, but it would have just been the DJ for an hour, so I didn't mind missing that.  We got there right before the first set and had just enough time to get our tickets, buy Stashy a t-shirt, go in, sit down on the edge of the main pit in front of the stage, and stand up almost immediately after we sit down.

Before I talk about the bands, let me introduce the Trocadero atmosphere.  First of all, it was no Unlimited Sunshine at the Mann Centre.  Much smaller, much more indoors, much scenier, if that's a word.  On the whole, it felt more like a club than a concert.  The fact that there were no chairs contributed to this.  Also, the crowd was a little more hardcore than Unlimited Sunshine.  Everyone was wearing Bohemian/punk rock style clothing, and then there was me with my black peacoat and turtleneck sweater [it was cold!] feeling disgustingly preppy and out-of-place.  Of course, I did have the short hair and thick glasses going for me.

ARGH, I HAVE TO GO TO CHURCH NOW FOR MY COUSIN'S CHRISTENING.  I'LL FINISH THIS AFTERWARDS.

[5:02 PM]  As I was saying, the Trocadero crowd was. . . older is the right word, I think.  But it was a lot of fun, anyway.  Quite soon after Stasia and I arrived, the first band came on stage.  The Trocadero site is updated to the minute, it appears, because they already took down the information about Saturday night's show, so I can't get the band's name from there.  And the <a href="http://www.yeahyeahyeahs.com/" target="_blank">Yeah Yeah Yeahs site</a> seems like it hasn't been updated in ages.  I'm pretty certain their name began with the word "Rave" and I remember them saying they have an album coming out this month.  Maybe.  But they were kind of blah, anyway.  A girl and two guys with guitars and a guy on drums—the girl and one of the guys sang, if you could call it that, while the other guy with the guitar jumped around on stage.  All their songs sounded pretty much the same.  And the audience didn't help either.  They just sort of stood there like zombies the entire time.  Stasia and I tried to liven it up with "WOOOOOO!"s, but it didn't work very well.  The girl guitarist/singer sort of half-laughed, half-smiled when I went "Woooooo!" one time, though, so that was cool.

There was a little break between sets, so Stasia and I explored the Troc a bit; however, there wasn't much to explore, so we quickly returned to the main pit area in front of the stage and sat down while waiting for the next band.  This was <a href="http://www.kpunk.com/thegossip/" target="_blank">The Gossip</a>, who were a fat girl with short dark hair on vocals, a guy with glasses and hair that fell in his eyes on guitar, and a girl with short frizzy brown hair and glasses on drums.  They were amazing.  Really.  The moment the music began, the singer, let's call her "Beth," started dancing like crazy.  She was hardcore.  And then the people in the crowd were kind of reluctant to start dancing [not me, of course], so she was like, "Y'all gotta dance!  Here, let me help you get rid of your inhibitions. . ." and she zipped down her jeans and stepped out of them, and was wearing just a white t-shirt, black underwear, and socks for the rest of their songs.  So she was really fun.  She used the word "fucking" a lot, too, but I suppose that can't be helped.

At one point she came down into the audience and was like two feet away from me, so I felt famous.  ^.~  And at another point she dedicated a song to all the "fat queers," and then said "Queers representin'!" and everyone cheered, except for me and Stasia and maybe two other people, so I felt a little bit left out then.  Damn my heterosexuality.  And at yet another point she was all, "I wouldn't change my body for anything in the world."  I was q. proud & envious of her self-actualization.  Yeah, so I definitely give The Gossip a thumbs up.  If you ever get a chance to see them, you should.

Oh, tee.  In line for the bathroom between The Gossip and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stasia and I overheard these three women talking about how hot Beth is and how she made their hearts go pitter-patter.  That amused me.  ^__^  I am such an eavesdropper.  ^^;

And then there was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  Karen O on vocals, Brian Chase on drums, and Nick Zinner on guitar.  Karen O was mad cool.  She definitely got all into the songs and was leaping about the stage and drinking beer and being crazy.  She used the word "omniscient" and that earned her my respect, because of course if people use big words that means they're very intelligent.  ;D  

There were these crazy kids to the left of me and Stasia who were bouncing into each other during the fast parts of certain songs, and while I can bounce into other people with the best of them, on my other side were these boring people who didn't dance and gave you the impression that if you bumped into them, you would pay dearly.  Or maybe I'm exaggerating, but I rather enjoy swaying towards the dramatic, as <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</a> might say.  Anyway, that was really fun.  Despite the boring people behind me and to my right, I bounced and quasi-moshed and got my groove on, etc.  :D

When the band got up and went offstage, everyone started stomping loudly [including myself ^^;] 'cause there always has to be an encore.  So after a while, they come back on stage and Karen is all, "Well, we were halfway down the block in our limousine when we heard y'all stomping, so we decided to come back and play a few more songs."  And everyone found that amusing because they did nothing of the sort and were planning to come back on stage anyway.  So they mulled over what songs to play and a guy to the left of me was all, "Mystery Girl!"  And I was like yeah!

When Stasia invited me to go to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert, you see, I went online and downloaded all of their songs, and my favourite, or if not my very favourite, then at least one of my favourites, is "Mystery Girl."  So Karen [or maybe it was Nick] was like, "Okay, who wants 'Mystery Girl'?"  And everyone raised their hand, so they played it and it was hardcore.  :D  And then they played another song and then they went offstage for good, and I rushed to the merch stand to buy myself a sexy t-shirt.  xD

So that was last night.  And then this morning Leo got baptized, which was dreadfully boring, and I'm so glad I'm not forced to go to church weekly.  But I managed to sit through it for my cousin's sake, and afterwards there was food, so.  ^__^  Oh, and when Laura saw my Yeah Yeah Yeahs shirt, she was all, "Hey, I had a ticket to that."

Me:  Really?
Her:  Yeah.

And then she told me she and Tom [her special friend] went to the Sleater-Kinney concert that Stasia and I had tried to get tickets to!  I told her as much, and she was like, "Aww, you should have come with me and Tom, it was really great, &c."

Silly old Laura.  ^__^
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/02/2002 12:30:00 PM
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BODY:
<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> word count: 1199.  Days left: 29, counting today.

I have the merest tracings of a plot and a few underdeveloped characters, but it's quantity not quality that we're going for, right?  I've been forcing myself just to write anything that came into my head.  I have a major perfectionist complex, you see.  If it's not perfect, it's not worth doing.  So this should be good for me, I think.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/01/2002 04:13:00 PM
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BODY:
I was taking notes in chemistry today and I started thinking about. . .

What if our society collapsed?  Kind of along the lines of the Roman Empire, and then with the Dark Age-type period with much ignorance & superstition following it.  So what if in the future people were trying to rebuild it and they found a high school student's backpack with notes on science and history and math and crizzap and that's all the information they had of today's modern knowledge and stuff?

And then I was going to use that for NaNoWriMo, but it was too complicated and I'm too lazy to create a future society.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 11/01/2002 03:42:00 PM
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BODY:
Happy All Saints' Day!  Or November first, for the non-Christian/Catholic.  Best of luck to all my fellow NaNoWriMo participants.  :D

Last night was fun, of course.  ^__^  I went with Maggie and Lauren the goths, Stasia the butterfly [her makeup took like an hour—she had these elaborate antennae and all this other crizzap—so she was late to pick me up and I was worried she had forgotten, &c.], Rachel the lifeguard, and Miriam the fairy.  At the last moment, I decided I was going to be Lady Macbeth, so I put some fake blood on my hands.  :D  That was fun.  When I told one lady who I was, she started saying "Is this a dagger I see before me?"  =)  These two other ladies thought I was Harry Potter.  -_-  I guess it was the glasses and the short dark hair and the cloak, but man.  Harry Potter doesn't wear a gown.  Or have bloody hands.  ><  So I corrected them.

The candy's the best part, though.  :D  I've got Butterfingers, Snickers, Reeses Cups, M&Ms, Peanut Chews [apparently the people who own Peanut Chews live in Maggie's disgustingly rich neighborhood, so they gave us two king size bars ^^], Hershey's, KitKat, Starbursts, et cetera.  Yay for &lt;British slang&gt;sweets&lt;/British slang&gt;!

I missed the bus this morning.  ><  My mum came into my room at seven o'clock and was like, "Are you staying home from school?"

Me:  AHHHHHHH! NO!  What time is it?!

So then I had to get ready for school super fast.  But don't worry, I got there on time.  And I missed second period for a peer mediation meeting thingy.  We had doughnuts.  =9  Boston Creme is god.  And that was the highlight of today.  Except I got a 97 on my chemistry test!  And that's not even with extra credit.  xDDD  La vie est bonne!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/31/2002 05:14:00 PM
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BODY:
Happy Hallowe'en, all!  :DDD  I'm so hyper.  After school I went to the junior high for the tutoring thing, and the little boy was sweet and all, but that wasn't the fun part.  The fun part was when I saw Mr Shelton and gave him a hug and we talked.  :D  And then I saw my beloved Saul and hugged him too and chatted him up for a while.  He has all the teachers I had when I was little and in eighth grade.  :D  But then KT got impatient and dragged me away.  Ohh, the junior high.  I miss those days!  And I miss Mr Kleba.  ;-;  But that's life.

Oh, and Ms C is my hero.  Today she was like, "Oh, today's Halloween!  You guys don't have to have the picture for me by tomorrow."  And I was like, "YESSSSSS."

I do have my stupid chem lab, though.  But it's pretty easy, I think.  So yeah.

AHHHHHH, IT'S HALLOWEEN!!!  >D  Just had to get that out.  Whee, trick-or-treating!  xDDD  So I'm going to go do my lab and get in costume.  L8r, d00dz.  :D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/30/2002 08:10:00 PM
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BODY:
Wow, I'm actually finished.  I thought it would take me all night, but I guess not.  =D

So, tomorrow's All Hallows Eve, w00t.  And don't worry, with my super charm I managed to convince Maggie to let me go trick and/or treating with her.  >D  We made a deal.  If I can find her house, I can come.  So Stashy will give me a ride and no problems.  Actually, Maggie isn't all that bad.  She is quite the friendly creature.  I sat next to her after school at the Key Club meeting and I shared my Honey Nut Cheerios with her and she was like, "You know what?  You're not so bad.  I can give you directions to my house."  But I told her, "Don't even worry.  Stashy's providing me with transportation."  Can't wait till tomorrow night!

Except I just realised that Ms C. wants to see that we've worked on our art project that we're supposed to be doing at home by the end of this week, so I guess I'll have to do that tomorrow night before I go out.  Bloody homework.  ><

Oh, and I used Dryel today to clean my princess dress.  :D  So now it's slightly less wrinkly.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/30/2002 05:00:00 PM
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BODY:
I've been procrastinating for a v. long time and tonight is the night where I have to work my arse off to make up for it because the essay is due tomorrow.  So I don't have time to blog much and I most likely won't be on AIM to chat.

I would like to say, though, that I heart <I>The Carnivorous Carnival</i>!  Esmé is my hero!  :D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/29/2002 06:08:00 PM
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BODY:
Don't worry, guys, I still have all "A"s.  :D  J'adore LetterGrade so much.  [If you find my constantly posting of my grades obnoxious, I apologise.  However, I intend to keep doing it for as long as I like, 'cause this is my blog, y0.]

1)   ENG II H-0120-1 <b>95.40</b>
2)   WCIV II H-0220-2 <b>94.04</b>
3)   ALG II H-0330-7 <b>97.10</b>
4)   CHEM H-0410-5 <b>92.53</b>
5)   PE 10TH-0514-16 <b>100.00</b>
6)   GER III H-0640-8 <b>97.75</b>
7)   LATIN I ACC-0655-3 <b>102.83</b>
8)   ART I TAL-0710-4 <b>94.13</b>
9)   ACAD ACC MATH H-0800-3 <b>98.57</b>
10)   ACAD ACC ENG H-0810-3 <b>100.00</b>

Also, visit <a href="http://jesus.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Mimi</a>, even though she is a blasphemer who shalt burn in Hell for all eternity.  ;D  Luff yew, Meems.

Also also, I enjoy <a href="http://atheistparents.org" target="_blank">atheistparents.org</a> and <a href="http://morons.org" target="_blank">morons.org</a>.

Also also also, SkiDiva, why are you not online more often?  ;-;
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/29/2002 05:19:00 PM
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BODY:
Aieeeeee!  I just saw Danny Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint on Oprah!  They are the most adorable children ever.  &lt;3  I'm going to marry them all.  Especially Rupert.  :D  With his little jean jacket.  AIEEEEEE!  Except Emma's kind of disgusting with her "I do sport more than academic things" and slutty clothing in whatever magazine Allison had in art club.  Honestly, she's got this little peasant top with bare shoulders and rouge [lurve that word] and blue eyeshadow and it was treble blah and STOP SELLING YOUR TWELVE YEAR OLD BODY, EMMA!!!  DON'T LET OUR WRETCHED, OPRESSIVE, PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY OBJECTIFY YOU!  DAMN THE MAN!

Right ho.  So I had two tests today, chem and world civ., and I think I did rather well, despite the fact that I didn't have the ENTIRE PERIOD TO TAKE MY CHEM TEST.  Towards the end of fourth period, art, I started getting crampy, and I know my body, and when it rains, it pours.  I have the worst cramps ever and I definitely didn't want to take my chemistry test while my body was being wracked with horrible, tortuous, blindingly painful pain.  Clever me, I decide to go to the health suite to ring up my mater and tell her to bring in some ibuprofren, pronto.  'cause the nurses aren't allowed to give you any medicine or crap because they're crap-for-crap good-for-nothings.  And sans the pronto part because it definitely took her like twenty minutes and I missed the beginning of fifth period, i.e., my chemistry test.  But I managed to finish the test in time.  Just barely, but I did manage.  And I even did the extra credit, go team me.

And that's about all that happened today.  At the moment, my mum is going out to take my sister to the orthodontist and my brother to buy hoagies or some such nonsense, but most importantly to PURCHASE <i>CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL</i> EVEN THOUGH I SHOULDN'T EVEN READ IT BECAUSE MY SCHEDULE IS FULL LIKE A BEGGAR'S BOWL, IF THAT BEGGAR WERE POPULAR AND HAD MANY WEALTHY FRIENDS WHO ENJOYED DONATING LARGE PILES OF CASH TO HIS OR HER BOWL.  [If the gratuitous CAPS throughout this post annoyed you, too damn bad.  ;P]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/28/2002 06:16:00 PM
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BODY:
Last night was my ickle cousin Leo's seventh birthday party, so the whole family went to my aunt's house for a par-tay.  Of course, me being the antisocial bookworm that I am [and having no cousins my own age], I quickly found J. D. Salinger's <i>Nine Stories</i> and read "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."  Man, that's some crazy shizznit.  I also started <i>For Esmé— With Love and Squalor</i>, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to finish.  Ah, well.

Afterwards, the family went to other aunt's house so I could go through her magical chest o' costumes.  I found this really great gown, with a purpley-maroony-browny skirt and a goldy-ivory embroidered bodice [I love that word] and a matching hooded cape, and it is ACE, dawg.  [I am lazy and unimaginative, so I enjoy going as a princess for Halloween]  :D  Speaking of All Hallows Eve, I'm not sure with whom I'm trick and/or treating yet.  I'd like to go with my pal Stashy & friends, but I think that little outing is based at Mademoiselle Margaret Blazick's house, who is not particularly. . . fond of me.  See, most people call her Maggie, but I insist on calling her Peg, and she's not really down with that.  But recently we've been bonding in academic access math [it completely shocked her when she found out I'm good at math ^^;], so perhaps I'll be able to finagle an invitation.  Dear old Stasia invited herself, so mayhap that'll work for me.  And if not, I'll perhaps team up with Catherine Rose or Katharine Joan or some such other person.

Anyway.  After school was my weekly ACLU meeting.  Love, love, love!  O, how j'adore that club.  It is quite similar to the way j'adore my dearest Silvia.  She is quite a cool feline.  She enjoys sitting by my computer as I do computer-y stuff and she is all black, so she's the perfect familiar.  >D  Right now she's perched on my thigh.  &lt;3  Everyone should have a cat.  Unless you're not cool enough for cats [i.e., allergic], like <a href="http://blinked.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">Neily</A>.

Talking of whom, it's HER BIRTHDAY TODAY!  She's sixteen!  :D  So go send her some birthday love.  But don't give her all you've got, 'cause Saturday was <a href="http://anastasia.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">Ally</a>'s birthday!

Also, <i>Carnivorous Carnival</i> totally comes out tomorrow and I totally have no time for pleasure reading.  School is such a bitch.  I have two tests tomorrow [world civ. and chem.] and an essay type thingy due Thursday and an art project I need to start working on [it's a homework assignment, so we gots to do it at home. . .sux0r] and my research paper of course and all this other crizzap.  I give high school a big thumbs down.

Remember how I said Brian Brotman's hair is exactly like the hair of the kid in <i>Almost Famous</i>?  Well, I spoke too soon.  He totally got it cut this weekend because I saw him in the hallway this morning and I was like, WHOA.  It's all sheared off, baby.  Speaking of the Brotman clan, Jen said she liked my pants today.  :D  Go team cords!  Even if they are stupid and whiskered.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/27/2002 03:17:00 PM
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BODY:
Do you have any idea how difficult it is too find a pair of whisker-less pants?  Near impossible.  I bought three pairs of pants today and two of them have those wretched "whiskers."  I disgust myself.

In other news, I've decided that I don't let people know how much I appreciate them enough.  So every Sunday I'll pick one person and write a few sentences about how much I'm glad that s/he's my friend.

<b>Allison</b>
I love talking to/being with Allison because we must have a gazillion "inside jokes" and it feels like we've known each other forever.  I'm always laughing with her and laughter = good stuff.  She is just a fun person & she is cool 100%.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, <a href="http://paradoxy.org" target="_blank">COLIN</a>!!!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/26/2002 09:51:00 PM
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BODY:
"5. Blasphemy: Now this is one helluva area where I feel atheists are at a loss. Being an atheist, you are almost deprived of certain colloquial and colorful expressions. Whatever happens to expressions like "Bloody hell", "Goddamned", and "Jesus H Christ!!" How can you blaspheme when you don't believe in God? No more cussing, no more swearing. Mind your language, Sir."  ~ <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/oct/21diary.htm" target="_blank">Pros and cons of atheism</a>.

Found the link through good ole <a href="http://www.bunda.org" target="_blank">bunda</a>.  ^_^

Oh, and Richard Harris died today.  Too bad for him.  But he lived a long life, so whatev.  I didn't like him much as Dumbledore, anyway.  Maybe they'll get Ian McKellen now.  Eh.  I suppose I should be more sympathetic or sorrowful or something, but people die everyday, you know?  It's part of life, and I have no time to mourn them all.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/26/2002 06:36:00 PM
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BODY:
Last night I, KT, Marisa, & a young lad called Mike had a party chez R. Collins.  We played some silly game which was sort of like intergalactic Risk, only much more complicated.  It wasn't really my style, but I enjoyed myself anyway.  ^__^  A good time was had by all, I believe.

Today I watched <i>Almost Famous</i>, ventured to Briar Bush with my family, and played cards with Colin.  The main character in <i>Almost Famous</i> definitely has the exact same haircut as Brian Brotman [a boy in my school.]  It is CRAZY.  And I definitely think Billy Crudup is coolies.  "...he's a special creature" -<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/il/BillyCrudup/" target="_blank">Liv Tyler</a>.  xD  And I definitely want a messenger bag and vintage clothing.  &lt;the 70s3

Five days till NaNoWriMo and I still have no plot, no characters, no setting, no nothing.  ^^;  But I'm sure once I start, it'll all just flow from me.  Perhaps.

Talking of flowing, my ornery body decided to stop playing tricks on me today.  So don't worry, I'm not pregnant.  ;D

I think I'll have a new layout up soon, because come November, I'll have no free time at all.  'cause I'll be writing a NOVEL and a TERM PAPER and have all sorts of other school-related crizzap on my platter.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/25/2002 04:14:00 PM
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BODY:
"I don’t understand why people who are atheists, people who are anti-religious, and people who don’t care about their religion say ‘Oh my God’. If they don’t have a god, why swear to Him?"

~ Sanchy's <a href="http://fuchsia.her-own-eyes.org/blog/dinbo.html" target="_blank">blog</a>, which has a nice green new layout. ^^

I try not to use such phrases as "Oh, my God," and "Thank God," but it is difficult sometimes.  There aren't really any secular substitutes that have the same effect as those.  I sometimes lightheartedly say "Oh, my Random," but that really doesn't have the same ring to it.  I guess I use "God" as a sort of flavouring word.  [German has a lot of those.  Flavouring words, I mean.]  For example, "God, I need some source of income."  [hoe.o, 9/26/02 9:46:04 PM]  But that's probably short for "Oh, my God."  Hm.  I will now make a conscious attempt not to invoke a god which I don't believe exists, for my own sake and for the sake of Sancho or Nyx or whatever alias she prefers these days.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/25/2002 03:18:00 PM
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BODY:
Wow, I survived the week.  Go team me.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/24/2002 04:20:00 PM
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BODY:
Oh, my sweet lord Jesus.  [Sorry, just quoting <i>The Crucible</i>.  As you may remember, I'm Tituba and basically all my lines are OH, PRAISE GOD and I'M A GOOD CHRISTIAN WOMAN.]  I had the freakiest dream last night.

I'm in a theater, supposedly a movie theater, but it definitely isn't because there's like a stage and shizznit.  First there is a band of five girls, one really tall and one really short and three in the middle.  And the tall girl goes, "Yo, that was hot."  [Referring to their music, of course.]  And then fast forward a bit and I'm sitting in a seat near the front and to the left of the stage.  I think some people from my school are there.  Fast forward a bit more and I have to go to the bathroom.  Sienna and I go ['cause if you're a high school girl, you can't go anywhere alone; we travel in packs], and the bathroom is like immediately behind the center of the stage.  And there's like a cutout in the set, so if you walk straight out of the yellow bathroom door, you're on stage.

Of course, I do this.  The stage is dark, but of course right as I realize what just happened, the lights come up.  Apparently *N'Sync is performing.  So I quickly run off the stage because I'm not supposed to be there, I'm embarrassed, &c.  Fast forward and this oldish guy is like, "You know what happens now." [or something along those lines]  And he basically says I have to leave the theater immediately because I accidentally went on stage.  So I'm like, "That's ridiculous.  I didn't even finish watching."  And he's like, "Too bad." [or something along those lines.]  And he gives me a yellow slip and on it are ten Latin problems, which were totally irrelevant to everything else.

I go into the theater and start shouting to the audience.  I explain my plight and how unfair the arsehole is being.  They start chanting their support for me and I convince them to boycott the theater. Then the guy starts chasing me and he is very scary.  I run up this wooden playground equipment thing that is suddenly in the theater and there are all these steps, first going up for a couple flights, then going down.  As I run, it gets harder and harder to go up the steps and the guy is like grabbing onto my legs and trying to catch me.  Then there's this little opening in the wooden thingy, and I try to crawl through because I know he wouldn't be able to follow me.

Fast forward a bit and I am talking to the female manager of the theater, who has shortish brown hair.  She is all, "You know, the theater is more important than one person," and basically hints that she'll fire the weird guy if I stop the boycott.  Then I tell her about how he was trying to kill me.  [At this point he has morphed into a Count Olaf-esque character.]  She is all, "GASP!  You should sue him!"

Fast forward to a trial, only he has these cockroach type creatures that keep like attatching themselves to my leg and then he escapes out a window.  And I think I woke up around this point, but MAN, was that a freaky dream.  I was amazingly scared.

That's what I get for falling asleep in a bad mood.  It was bedtime and I was tired and cranky and I still had homework because I'm stupid and kept telling myself I would do it later, so I got all worked up and slammed doors in my brother's face and the like.  And then I felt guilty about being mean to him and fell asleep with thoughts of self-hatred in my head.  I give myself two thumbs down for silliness.

Today I was supposed to tutor my "academically at risk" junior high friend, but apparently they have to screen us to make sure we're not terrorists or something.

"At 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon the coordinator of the Homework Club at the Junior High called to inform me that she needed to present the list of student volunteers to the administration before we began the program."

Heute nacht habe ich viele Hausaufgaben zu machen.  Ich bin froh, weil morgen Freitag ist.  [Tonight I have to make many homework. I am glad, because tomorrow Friday is.]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/23/2002 06:03:00 PM
-----
BODY:
AHHHHHHHHH!  Remember "89.65"?!  No longer!

1)   ENG II H-0120-1 <b>95.40</b>
2)   WCIV II H-0220-2 <b>94.04</b>
3)   ALG II H-0330-7 <b>97.10</b>
4)   CHEM H-0410-5 <b>90.61</b>
5)   PE 10TH-0514-16 <b>100.00</b>
6)   GER III H-0640-8 <b>97.75</b>
7)   LATIN I ACC-0655-3 <b>102.83</b>
8)   ART I TAL-0710-4 <b>94.13</b>
9)   ACAD ACC MATH H-0800-3 <b>98.57</b>
10)   ACAD ACC ENG H-0810-3 <b>100.00</b>

LETTERGRADE R0X0RZ!!!  :D

And here's a fun fact for today, which I'm sure all of you will add to your little Almeda scrapbooks:  Almeda was baptized Roman Catholic as a wee babe, but since then has been corrupted into a godless atheist.  PH34|2 |-|3|2.

And Brinzy's got a new <a href="http://www.allan.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">layout</a>.  'tis grey!  =)
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/23/2002 05:39:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I changed my mind.  My bowl is much nicer now.  It just needed a little work.  ^^  I added blue hearts and red dots and it's beautiful.  :D  But I shouldn't get too attatched to it because I'm giving it away.  For the Empty Bowl Benefit, of course.  But if I go to the benefit, I get a bowl in return [and it would probably be a lot sexier than the one I made] so that would be fun.

Last night was the Edward de Vere thing.  It went quite well, I thought.  ^^  When we got there, I was scared [for my mater's sake] that no one would show up, but don't worry, when we went into the "media room," there were quite a lot of people, and the librarians even had to add another row of seats to accomodate everyone.  Of course, it was mostly old ladies, but that's okay.  Old ladies rock hardcore.

My mummy's presentation was good.  ^_^  If you aren't convinced Edward de Vere wrote the plays [if so, then you are an ARSE and a sill], that's okay, but it's so definitely not Will Shakespeare.  He was a dummy.  And while we were at the library, my auntie bought me <i>Memoirs of a Geisha</i> for a DOLLAR.  Used bookstore = &lt;3  And also, after my mum's thing, my aunt was like, "I'm going to walk over to your sister. ><; Your mother.  My sister."  And then one of my mutti's friends turned around and asked me, "Oh, you're Judy's sister?"

Me:  . . . her daughter.
M's F:  OH!  [Almeda]!  My, how you've grown!
Me:  *giggles*

I enjoy being thought older than I really am.  At the thing at Alverthorpe Park this weekend, I sat at the face-painting table with someone college-aged.  She asked me how old I was and when I told her she was all, "Really?!  I thought you were older."  Muahahaha.

This morning I overslept.  -_-  By an hour.  -_-  Which doubly sucked because I meant to do my chemistry homework in between the time I arrived at school and the time first period began [which is like half an hour.]  But since I overslept, I had barely enough time to get to first period on time, so I couldn't do my chemistry homework.  And I really need to do all my work, especially because I have an 89.56 in chemistry.  So then I was going to do it second period, during the announcements, but we were working on a project, so I didn't have time then.  Then I was going to do it at the end of third period, but I forgot because I'm a dummy.  So it's fourth period, art, and I'm sneakily doing bits of my homework while the teacher's on the other side of the room and I feel really guilty about it.  And then I get to chemistry and I'm done half the homework and Patty is all, "Oh, that's not due until tomorrow."  And then my head exploded.

I'm going to get a new AIM screenname.  I'll tell you it, if you're my friend.  >D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/22/2002 04:45:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Had art club today after school.  My bowl definitely sucks, but that's okay because this morning my art teacher was all:

Ms. C:  Are you taking art next year?
Me:  Um, probably.  I guess.
Ms. C:  *nod*  You should.  Do you do music?
Me:  ^^;  Uh, no.
Ms. C.:  Good.  I lose all my good art students because they take music instead.
Me:  *nod*

So that made me feel good.

Tonight is my mum's Ed da Vere presentation.  I'm going to rally around, of course, like a good daughter, and attend.  ^_^

Also tonight I have a tizzon of homework, which requires all of my textbooks.  But fortunately my world civ. book is online. . . though that still means I had to bring two home.  School is such crap.

In other news, we played tennis today in gym.  Me and Michael of the Bostocks versus Krista and Will of the Bruces.  It was quite delightful.  =)

Talking of gym, here's who gets out of it:  Ah.  [And by "Ah," I mean "Allison M. B."  I'm too lazy to say the whole thing.]  She tripped and fell and broke her finger, so that disqualifies her from participating in gymly activities.  She is a super sill who's getting surgery tomorrow.  But don't worry, she won't die.  She's fun but tough.  :D

And I do believe that's all for now, folks.  Except Nina:  I'm reading this book with ten or so stories by early Japanese feminists and it says:

"In the years between 1913 and 1938, the period represented in this collection, Japan enjoyed political liberalism after four decades of frantic efforts toward modernization.  Individualism and social realism, introduced from the West by the intellectuals of the previous generation, was finding expression in Japanese literature—as was a growing feminist consciousness.  The <i>Seito-sha</i>, or Bluestocking Society, organized by Hiratsuka Raicho in 1911 to publish a women's literary magazine, began taking up a number of social and political issues affecting women—from the institution of marriage to abortion to prostitution."

And I saw Bluestocking and thought of you.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/21/2002 07:05:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Plug for <a href="http://speechless.nu" target="_blank">Hes</a> 'cause she's got a new layout and it's BROWN, baby.  The colour of the future.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/21/2002 06:44:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Going to blog in <a href="http://www.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">outline</a> form, 'cause I haven't a single original idea in my head.

I.  Monday, October 21, 2002
&nbsp;&nbsp;A. School
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. period uno
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. English - Mr Lodewick is back; no more annoying sub who paints her nails and corrects my non-existant mistakes
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. finish writing essay on tragic heroes and <i>The Scarlet Letter</I> and Romanticism and Nathaniel Hawthorne
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c. pick parts for reading of <i>The Crucible</i>; I'm Tituba ^^;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2.  period two-o
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. world civ.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. check three books out of the library for research paper [including an anthology of stories by early Japanese feminists - r to the 0x0r.]
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3.  period three-o
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. Latin
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. learn about Aeneas and Numitor and Rhea Silvia and Romulus and Remus
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c. Mr Kummer is cool
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4.  period four-o through seven-o
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. art, chemistry, lunch, algebra
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. boredom reigns supreme
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5.  period eight-o
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. German
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b.  KT returns <i>Confessions</i>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c.  Michael Bostock asks to borrow <i>Confessions</i>, upon crony Will B.'s advice - "That's really good."
&nbsp;&nbsp;B.  After school
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. ACLU club
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. talk about eleven through nineteenth amendments, as well as other stuff
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. Mr Kummer is still cool
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. after ACLU
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a. drop Marisa off
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b. go to Genuardi's; purchase things
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c. come home; eat dinner
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;d. get on the computer
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/20/2002 05:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Just watched <i>Amelie</i>.  Q. weird, but with a satisfying ending.  ^^

Oh, and I want to get my hair cut again.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/20/2002 03:28:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Seven hours, at least 8.4 miles, two bus rides, quite a few bottles of FIJI Natural Artesian Water, a couple sticks of Doublemint gum, and one jumbo soft pretzel later. . . I'm exhausted.  To the mizzax.

Remind me to never walk ever again.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/19/2002 05:20:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Did my community service hours today!  Face-painting, baby.  I am now a face-painting champion.  >D  Mr Kleba's band showed up to play, but it started raining, so they left after like three songs.  And then of course once they left the sun came out again.  Pshaw.  But we [Stasia, Miriam, and I] painted the faces of Mr Kleba's girlfriend, Mr Scattergood's wife [my seventh grade science teacher], and the other guy's girfriend.  :D  We put the band name, "PEEL," on their faces and painted peeled bananas.  :D  We're so clever.  And this little girl definitely asked for a can of whipped cream.  So I was like, ooooookay.  And it sucked.  But whatev.  Mostly I painted flowers and hearts. And one butterfly.  And two cats, a tree, a sun, a sword.  Then I painted a moustache and goatee on Stasia and then all these little girls wanted me to do it to them too.  Teehee.  So that was fun.

And when I got home my interim report was there.  All "A"s except a "B" in blasted chemistry.  Oh, and they finally have instructions on how to get your grades online.

"Dear Students: As you face the challenges of preparing yourself for college and career after graduation from our high school, you will benefit from our new manner of managing and reporting assessment data. I urge you to be a frequent visitor to the LetterGrade website so that you will always be aware of where you stand academically in each of your classes. If you have questions or concerns, it is vitally important for you to consult with your guidance counselor and your teachers. These professionals are here to help you with every aspect of high school life. We know that the competition is rigorous as you proceed with your goals, and we want you to feel supported throughout each year of high school. Please ask your parents to help with any concerns as well. Don't forget that teachers are available before and after school by appointment, and that the math department and science department have specific tutorials in place to provide extra help during the school day. Good luck in all of your endeavors this year. Regards... Dr. Burt, your principal"

1)   ENG II H-0120-1 <b>95.40</b>
2)   WCIV II H-0220-2 <b>94.34</b>
3)   ALG II H-0330-7 <b>97.04</b>
4)   CHEM H-0410-5 <b>89.56</b>
5)   PE 10TH-0514-16 <b>100.00</b>
6)   GER III H-0640-8 <b>97.75</b>
7)   LATIN I ACC-0655-3 <b>104.17</b>
8)   ART I TAL-0710-4 <b>92.00</b>
9)   ACAD ACC MATH H-0800-3 <b>100.00</b>
10)   ACAD ACC ENG H-0810-3 <b>100.00</b>

Gym and academic access are so silly.  You get points for showing up.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/18/2002 07:18:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I'm in the children's section of the library and will be here for a while, according to the maternal figure.  "You might as well start reading because she [the librarian] can't help me until a half hour from now."  She didn't say what she needed her for.  Most likely working out the details of her Edward de Vere <a href="http://abg.mclinc.org/shakespeare_who.htm" target="_blank">presentation</a>, which is next Tuesday.  Silly old mater.

So when I got home from school this afternoon I promptly fell asleep.  I don't know what it is, but I am just constantly exhausted.  And it's not like I don't get enough sleep, because I get approx. eight hours each night, which I believe is the norm.  So that's not just cool.  At approx. five o'clock, the mater woke me up because it is "Pizza Night" at the siblings' school.  So we went and ate pizza, except I didn't because I had pizza for lunch and really didn't need any more.

And now we are at the library.  Using my mad card-catalog browsing skillz, I found some books for my research paper.  <i>Anthology of Japanese Literature</i>, <i>The Pleasures of Japanese Literature</i>, <i>Modern Japanese Literature</i>, and <i>A History of Japanese Literature</i> volumes two and three.  Screw volume one, I say.  Actually, I told my teacher my research topic was Japanese art, but my library is sadly lacking in Japanese art books, so I was like whatev, and decided to change my mind.  This is okay because we don't have to have our theses until next Friday.

Ergh, the temperature definitely just rose like a gazillion degrees.  Maybe I'm just having hot flashes.  I haven't had my period in like two months, and it is worrying me slightly.  I'm too young to be going through menopause; I can't be pregnant because I've never had sex, and while it may have worked for the Blessed Virgin Mary, you'd think God would have given me the heads up before he went and knocked me up, right?

So my theory is that my body is trying to tell me something.  Like that I'm not getting enough iron or whatev.  So I'm going to do some research on that and start eating large quantities of green, leafy vegetables.

<b>Later</b>.  Oh, dear.  I went down this <a href="http://familydoctor.org/flowcharts/538.html#12" target="_blank">flow chart</a> and here's what it says:

These are symptoms of a hormone problem, such as a thyroid problem. Periods will also stop if your weight falls dramatically, as sometimes occurs with anorexia nervosa.

I don't have anorexia, but I guess I could have a hormone problem.  It says to consult my doctor.  Hrm.

<a href="http://kotex.com" target="_blank">Kotex.com</a> says:  Other causes of irregularity may be stress, a change in your diet or an increase in exercise, or drug use.

<a href="http://www.epigee.org/guide/lateperiod.html" target="_blank">This</a> site says: stress, rapid weight loss or gain, illness, drugs (certain tranquilizers) may have disrupted cycle.

Being a womyn is such trixy stuff.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/17/2002 08:04:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Public Service Announcement:

I am heterosexual, kthx.

MooseSkittle (6:52:23 PM): did u get a bf yet?
a l m e DASTAR (6:52:42 PM): A what?
MooseSkittle (6:52:47 PM): bf
a l m e DASTAR (6:53:24 PM): A what?
MooseSkittle (6:53:27 PM): boy friend
MooseSkittle (6:53:50 PM): jeeze u think someone who spends that much time online would know
a l m e DASTAR (6:54:14 PM): . . .
a l m e DASTAR (6:54:19 PM): You make very little sense, my friend.
MooseSkittle (6:54:20 PM): ...?
MooseSkittle (6:54:30 PM): do u have a boy friend
a l m e DASTAR (6:54:32 PM): No, I don't.
a l m e DASTAR (6:54:37 PM): Nor do I want one at the mo.
MooseSkittle (6:54:44 PM): im not asking u out
MooseSkittle (6:54:59 PM): believe me, im definatly not
a l m e DASTAR (6:55:29 PM): Don't worry, I believe you.
MooseSkittle (6:56:05 PM): u no like boys do u [almeda]
a l m e DASTAR (6:56:25 PM): Um?
a l m e DASTAR (6:56:31 PM): Please speak English.
MooseSkittle (6:56:50 PM): u dont like boys do u
a l m e DASTAR (6:56:52 PM): Um.
a l m e DASTAR (6:56:55 PM): I definitely do, thanks.
MooseSkittle (6:56:58 PM): sure...
MooseSkittle (6:57:03 PM): [almeda]s a dyke
MooseSkittle (6:57:05 PM): its ok
a l m e DASTAR (6:57:08 PM): Trust me, if I was a lesbian, I would tell you.
MooseSkittle (6:57:13 PM): ill still be ur friend
MooseSkittle (6:57:20 PM): y would u tell me?
a l m e DASTAR (6:57:29 PM): I don't think I want friends who don't believe me when I tell them my sexual orientation.

And then I blocked him, sick of his silly tricks.  Honestly, people are so dumb.  If I were a lesbian, I would not pretend not to be.  There is nothing wrong with being homosexual.  But then people [namely MooseSkittle] are like, "Oh, you're a dyke," and I'm like, "No, I'm not," and get all defensive and then it comes across as if I think being lesbian is bad or something when really I'm just trying to clarify that it's not my bag, baby.  Why would you assert that someone is lesbian when she's telling you she's not?  The world is such a crazy place.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/17/2002 05:16:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Memo to self:

Sept. 21 - peanut selling for two hours for the Kiwanis Club.
Sept. 23, Oct. 2, 8, 15, 16 - bowl-making for the empty bowl benefit in art club
Oct. 19 - volunteering [face painting, I think] at Alverthorpe Park . . . need to talk to womyn tomorrow about this
Oct. 20 - AIDS Walk for seven hours, I bleef
Oct. 24 [and every Thursday afterward] - tutoring junior high student "academically at risk"

See, my school requires a minimum number of service hours to graduate, and two clubs I'm in [Key Club and Building With Books] have a minimum required monthly number of hours, so I have to keep track of this stuff.

Tomorrow I have a math quiz, a test on <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> [I think it's an essay test, but it doesn't matter. . . I'll just read the entire <a href="http://www.sparknotes.com" target="_blank">SparkNotes</a> on it tonight. . .  an amazingly successful way to study.], and a chem lab due.  So I do believe I'll do that now.  Or pretend to and procrastinate for a long time.

But I have nothing to blog anyway because my life is monotonous and silly.  Oh!  Visit <a href="http://anastasia.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">Ally</a> 'cause she has her new layout up and it's ubersexy!  But if naked womyn offend you, you might not want to visit.  ^^;  So that's my disclaimer.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/16/2002 09:20:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://go.hrw.com" target="_blank">Online textbooks</a> are too cool.  *has fun doing her world civ. homework*  xD
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/16/2002 06:33:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Oh, and happy birthday to <a href="http://evolo.nu/" target="_blank">Jas</a> [the star].  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/16/2002 04:52:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Silvia is sitting atop my monitor, batting at it whenever something moves.  She is a silly little creature.

AIDS Walk is Sunday!  I have to remember to turn in my permission slip tomorrow.  If you are a kind and generous person and you want to join the fight against AIDS, click <a href="http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=9928&u=9928-2034024" target="_blank">here</a> to donate money, and I will love you forever, y0.

I bleef that's all.  Today was raaather uneventful.  Except Stasia is going to a Sleater-Kinney concert Saturday night and invited me and my mutti said I could go!  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/15/2002 04:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
The PSAT today.  Eeeee.  Our proctor was useless.  We had a substitute, and English is not her first language [not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you have to read instructions to students on how to take an IMPORTANT test, it helps to know the language pretty well] and she's a totally fascist timekeeper.  We definitely didn't get a full twenty-five minutes on the math section.  But it's just practice, so whatev.

<i>The Two Towers</i> progress:  Chapter X.

'We were just wondering where it would be safe to lie and get some sleep, when the most amazing thing of all happened.  There was the sound of a rider coming swiftly up the road.  Merry and I lay quiet, and Treebeard hid himself in the shadows under the arch.  Suddenly a great horse came striding up, like a flash of silver.  It was already dark, but I could see the rider's face clearly: it seemed to shine, and all his clothes were white.  I just say up, staring, with my mouth open.  I tried to call our and couldn't.

'There was no need.  He halted just by us and looked down at us.  "Gandalf!" I said at last, but my voice was only a whisper.  Did he say: "Hullo, Pippin!  This is a pleasant surprise!"?  No, indeed!  He said: "Get up, you tom-fool of a Took!  Where, in the name of wonder, in all this ruin is Treebeard?  I want him.  Quick!"'

&lt;Pippin3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/14/2002 06:49:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Krista is too sweet.

"ok well...dave gave me this idea and i have nuthing to put here neways soo im gonna use it! basically, one friend of mine a week im gonna write about in here and they'll be here for like 2 days. (i know it says week...but that TOO long..ill get bored!) then ill pick someone else. its just cool to let people know how they've effected u, bc most of the time we dont realize that the little things matter!

"ok this week is kate cheney. idk if some of ya'll know her or not, but shes SO SMART! shes really witty and i think ive lost liek 25 lbs just bc of laughing so hard. shes so nice to everyone too. its like, there isnt neone not worth being nice to, no matter what. she just treats u the same and just tells u "never be mean, never be mean.." she gets like all A's and basically tutors me coz im so slow in everything...and she has the most amazing undertsanding of german in our class. shes like a language godess. she uses pre- and suf- ixes to figure out what words mean... shes definitly very cool, and shes someone that everyone should get to know."
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/14/2002 06:20:00 PM
-----
BODY:
ACLU after school today.  Power to the people, baby!  We talked about the bill of rights, capital punishment, and the Civil War [American Civil War, that is].  Golly, how I love that club.

This morning was pretty sucky, though.  First of all, it's Monday.  Is it just me, or is it a thousand times harder to wake up on Mondays?

So I go to English first period and Kelly is all, "We're singing our song for the announcements."

M:  *jaw drop*  What?!

But it's for extra credit, so I'm like okay, whatev.  So our group heads down to the dungeon, room S3, where the media center place thingummy is.  There are all these seniors and it's embarrassing, but we sing our little song and they videotape it & stuff.  It wasn't that bad, except I am dreading when the announcements come on.  So second period, I'm sitting there in my desk, the announcements come on, the people read their little news things, and then it ends. 

M:  *huge sigh of relief*

So hopefully they decided it was too crap to be showed in public.  Phizzew.

Ooh, and speaking of second period, guess who got a 103/105 on her test!  Yes, the one I was "so totally going to kick arse on."  Who r0x0rz?  I do!  *preens and suchlike*  Oh, and I totally wrote 622CE in my essay, and she totally wrote AD over it.  And she's not even a rabid fundamentalist Xian or anything.  She even told us about BCE and how it's better to use that and wot.  So that confuses me.  But as long as she didn't take points off for it, I'm cool.  What I lost points on was a multiple choice question.

21. What civilization combined Greek and Middle Eastern cultures?  [or something along those lines]
a. blah
b. Hellenistic
c. Persian
d. blah

So I said c, cause I knew Hellenistic IS Greek, so how could it be Greek and M.E. combined?  But I guess I was w to the r to the ong.  Ah, well.

And that's all for today.  Tune in next time to learn more about ALMEDA'S EXCITING LIFE(tm).
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/13/2002 08:57:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Now I'm up to chapter seven.  :D  I don't know what it is, but <i>The Two Towers</i> is far easier to get through than <i>The Fellowship</i>.  I'm actually enjoying it!  ;D

And Pokémon was treble ick.  They tried to be all clever and involve a time-travel subplot with a surprise ending, but it was horrible and holey and nonsensical.  Of course my sister delighted in it.  Pah at eight-year-olds.

Inspired by <a href="http://livejournal.com/~plasticsurgery" target="_blank">Mimi</a>'s brilliance, I've dug up an old journal of mine.  Unfortunately, I've never been to Catholic school, so mine won't be half as interesting.

11-29-94

<u>News</u>
Today is Tuesday.  It is cool and clear.  I feel great.  It is 61ºF and 17ºC.  Today we have early dismisal [sic] at 12:20.  I'm going to my aunts [sic] house to light the menorah.  I'm going tonight or thursday [sic] night.  I love going to my aunts [sic] house.  They have two big dogs.  The dogs [sic. . . Okay, I'm sick of the "sic"s.  Just know that I had no concept of apostrophes or possession.] names are Luther and Jake.  On December 14, my brother is going to turn four.  But his birthday party is on December 11.  I'm going to help my mom with the party.  I can not wait.  My brother keeps asking when his birthday is.

11-30-94

<u>News</u>
Today is Wednesday.  It is cool and clear.  It is 60ºF and 16ºC.  I feel great.  Book order due on friday.  Today is the last day of November.  That means there are fourteen more days to my brothers birthday party.  And eighteen more days til Alisons party.  And 24 more days til Christmas.  I just started my list for Santa Claus.  I can't wait for Christmas.  We have early dissmisal at 12:20 Today.  I will play with Michelle most of the day.  After school.  I also can't wait til Alisons birthday.  I changed my mind.  I feel EXICITED!  Today in my Journal I wrote more than I did yesterday!

December 1, 1994

News
Today I have Apex.  [Abington's Program for EXcellence, the "gifted" program.]  Today is Thursday.  It is cloudy.

<u>News</u>
Today is Wednesday.  It is cool and grey.  [Even as a wee tyke I was pseudo-British!]  I feel great.  It is 64ºF and 19ºC.

12/8/94 [written in red ink, assumedly by the teacher]

<u>News</u>
Today is Thursday.  It is cold and freezing.  It is 63ºF and 17ºC.  I feel great.  Nick has the chicken pox.  Remember pine cones and decorated box.

December 12, 1994

News
Today is Monday.  It is cool and cold.  [WTF?]  It is 64ºF and 20ºC.  I feel fantastic.  Mellissa [There's an X over the first "l," I guess I didn't have an eraser] came back today!  Yesterday was my brothers birthday party.  He is turning 4 on the 14th!  Today We painted our gingerbread houses, but I'm not done.  I know everybodys sunsign in my family.  My Dad is cancer the crab.  My Mom is Taurus the bull.  My brother is Saggittus the centaur.  My sister is Gemini the twins.  And I'm Pisces the double fish.  Alisons [X through the second "s"] berry is the same as my brother, her birthday is Sunday 11th.

December 20, 1994

<u>Ne</u>ws
Today is Tuesday.  It is 61ºF and 15ºC.  I feel great.

News
Today is Wednesday.  It is 61ºF and 18ºC.  I feel exicited.

January 2, 1995

News
Today we have <u>art</u>.  We are doing <u>3-D buildings</u> in <u>art</u>.  The tempature is <u>66</u>ºF and <u>19</u>ºC.  It is Monday.  [In red ink above 3-D buildings, it says "That goes along with our math!"]
!Remember! To bring in Chicken Soup with rice book.  [red ink:  "Thank you!"]

January 3, 1995

News
Today we have library.  We are probably doing something about snow in library.  The <u>temperture</u> is <u>59</u>ºF and <u>15</u>ºC.  It is tuesday.  !Remember! to bring in Decmeber pizza hut calendar.  [There's a sticker with an smiling astronaut, two stars, and the words "BRIGHT IDEA."  In the teacher's red ink, it says "You always have bright ideas!"]

January 4, 1995

News
Today some people have Apex.  We are making dinosaur family trees in Apex.  The temperature [finally spelled it right!] is 60ºF and 15ºC.  Today is Wednesday.  !Remember!  Cursive Book money due Friday.

Jan. 9, 1995

News
Today we have art.  We are making 3-D buildings in art.  The temperature is 65ºF and 20ºC.  Today is monday.

January 10, 1995

News
Today we have library.  The temperature is 63ºF and 15ºC.  It is tuesday

Januart 10, 1995 [again?!]

News
Today we have nothing.  The temperature is 60ºF and 16ºC.  Today is Wednesday.  [I have no idea why I keep going on about the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.  This is America, for God's sake!]

January 1-12-94 [um?  isn't it 1995 now?]

<u>News</u>
Today we have Gym.  I am going to APEX [this is underlined in red ink for some reason] this morning.  The temperature is 62ºF and 14ºC.

January 18, 1995

<u>News</u>
Today we have pretzals.  Me and a couple other kids go to APEX at 10:00.  The temperature is 66ºF and 12ºC.  Today is Wednesday.

<u>News</u>
Today we have art.  We are almost finished our buildings in art.  The temperture [relapse] is 63ºF and 15ºC.  We have a substitute.  Her name is Mrs. Hall.

January 24, 1995

<u>News</u>
Today we have library.  The temperature is 54ºF and 11ºC.  Mrs. Burke is back.

January 25, 1995

<u>News</u>
Today we have pretzals.  Some kids go to APEX at 10:00.  The temperature is 62ºF and 13ºC.

<u>News</u>
Today I have art.  We are ready to paint.  The temperature is 63ºF and 14ºC.  On Saturday I signed up for soft ball.  We rode up in the red wagon we got for Christmas.  On Sunday I made some charts.  And then me and my mom and my brother and my sister went to Brian and Sue's house.  They're my mom's friends.  We went swimming at the YMCA pool with their kids.  Then we had dinner and played.  Then we watched TV.  !Remember!  To tell parents about city progect.  [in red ink:  "[Almeda] used the computer today."]

And there it ends.  Also, there were little math problems on each page [along the lines of 5+9=14, 4-3=1, &c.], but I was too lazy to type them up.  Crazy old second grade.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/13/2002 01:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I'm up to chapter three of <i>The Two Towers</i>.  I realised I was never going to get past Tom bloody Bombadil's house and, since Tolkien meant the trilogy to be published as one book, <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> is probably just the exposition, and since I've seen the movie and it provides a brief synopis of it at the beginning of <i>The Two Towers</i>, I don't need to read it, and can dive right into the action.

Also, Viggo!Aragorn is a billion times sexier than book!Aragorn.  I've noticed book!Aragorn does a lot of springing and leaping about and crying "Alas!" and talking to himself.  He's rather silly.

And I do believe my crap-for-crap father is making me take Nora to see the Pokémon movie.  Plz save me!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/12/2002 06:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Saw <i><a href="http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/tuck/" target="_blank">Tuck Everlasting</a></i> today.  I didn't remember the book being that sad, but damn, I cried for like the last ten minutes of the movie.

Thank random there are no magic streams of immortality in the real world, 'cause that would really sux0r.  Although it's too bad there aren't any Jesse Tucks, 'cause mmm, that boy was mighty fine-looking.  :D  And you know, I think it would be really fun to wear early twentieth century clothing like Winnie all the time.  &lt;old-fashioned dresses3

So, I thought it was a pretty good movie.  &lt;3  Especially for a Disney one.  xP

<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=127&e=2&u=/020927/7/2bxul.html" target="_blank">The Case for Regime Change</a>.  Bush is a kind and wise leader.  War is peace.  Freedom is slavery.  Ignorance is strength.

<a href="http://blinked.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">Blinked.h-o-e.org</a>.   Neil's moved!  And don't forget <a href="http://fuchsia.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">about</a> <a href="http://ninjapixie.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">my</a> <a href="http://heysailor.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">other</a> <a href="http://anastasia.her-own-eyes.org" target="_blank">hostees</a>.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/12/2002 12:20:00 PM
-----
BODY:
To write <a href="http://nanowrimo.org" target="_blank">50,000 words</a> in one month, I must write 1666 and two-thirds words a day.  I think I can handle that.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/12/2002 11:44:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Have you ever noticed that life is chockfull of coincidences?  It makes me feel like I'm living a well-written novel.  Or at least, that if there is a God, she's got a pretty damn good sense of humour.  =)

Exempli gratia, Thursday in English class my group filked the Green Day song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" for the PSAT.

"Another stupid test, analogies to do. . ."  &c.

Yesterday we presented it.  Kelly Farber brought in her guitar and played it while everyone else in the group sang.  

Last night my dad comes into my room with an issue of <a href="http://www.guitaronemag.com/" target="_blank">Guitar One</a> [the magazine you can play!] and is all, "Here, this is an easy song to learn how to play."

And guess what song it was!  Exactly.  "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."  xD  So now I can play the three of the four chords needed to play that song.  :D  Go team guitar!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/11/2002 04:17:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Got a 93 on my chem test.  ^^  Yes, my self-esteem is greatly affected by meaningless test scores.  xP  I'm a high school student.  That's what I do.  Take tests.

Talking of tests, the <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/psat/student/html/indx001.html" target="_blank">PSAT</a> is on Tuesday, and I definitely just want to get it over with.  In practically every class, the teacher is like, "Okay, now we're going to spend some time preparing you for the PSAT."  It is so boring and I am sick of it to the max.

S:  Kannst du am Samstag zu meiner Party kommen?
K:  Ich weiss nicht, ob ich kommen kann.
S:  Warum nicht?
K:  Weil meine Eltern mir HausArrest gegeben haben, kann ich nicht kommen.
S:  Es ist so doof, dass du HausArrest hast.
K:  Ja, ich weiss.  Ich bin so traurig, wenn meine Eltern so böse sind.
S:  Eltern sind ja böse.  Als ich eine schlechte Note in Deutsch bekommen habe, haben sie gesagt, "Du kannst nicht ins Kino gehen!"
K:  Warum sind Eltern so böse?
S:  Ich denke sie sind böse, weil ihre Eltern böse waren.
K:  Ich möchte wirklich zu deiner Party gehen, da es viel Spaß machen wird.
S:  Ja!  Zuerst werden wir einen Film sehen, nach dem Film, werden wir Kuchen essen.
K:  Vielleicht wenn ich mein Zimmer aufräume, werden meine Eltern nett sein.
S:  Ich hoffe, weil die Party ohne dich keinen Spaß machen wird.

:D  That's our [KT's and mine] dialogue for German.  We have to write a discussion about a problem using ten conjunctions.  Sonja is having a party on Saturday, but Kathrin can't come because her parents grounded her.  The solution?  Maybe if she cleans her room, her parents'll let her go.

A shout out to <a href="http://indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_Blank">KT</a>, 'cause she is super special.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/10/2002 05:09:00 PM
-----
BODY:
*proud 'cause she got a 100 on her math test*

Talking of tests, I took one both in world civ. and chemistry today.  Did pretty well, I think.

After school was Building With Books.  A womyn came in and gave us little tips about tutoring "little people."  It was a bit boring, but y'know.  That's life.

Talking of books, last night I finally finished that bloody <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, which I've been putting off forever.  h8@takingnotesonbooks.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/09/2002 06:55:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Partridge100302/partridge100302.html" target="_blank">What Would Jesus Do</a>?
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/09/2002 06:29:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Today in English a group did their presentation on chapter 15 of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> and we played "Who Wants To Be The Weakest Link?"  Basically "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" only with insults.  ^^  My team won.  :D  Jolly Rancher lollypops, baby.  Then in world civ. we played Jeopardy to review for the test tomorrow and my team won again.  :D  R0x0r to the max.  And it was so close, too.  When all the questions were gone, one team had 4300 points and we only had 2900 points.  But we wagered it all for Final Jeopardy and fortunately I knew the answer to the question [and the other team didn't].

How many Christians were there in 40 CE?  In 400 CE? [1000 and 6.3 million, respectively.]

I am SO going to kick ass on the test tomorrow.  Go team.  :D  &lt;world civ3

Oh!  OHohoh!  Today, I wore my pleather pants. . . and they totally ripped!  In chemistry, Krista was like, "Your pants are ripped."  

M: Whizzat?!
K: Yeah.

It was on my rear, too.  I don't know how I always manage to rip my pants in the back.  I guess it's just my huge butt.  But see, they were pleather, so it didn't rip all the way through. . . it was just the top layer that ripped and started to come off.  

M: OMG, what am I going to do?

And then, clever old me, I thought, "Duct tape!"

M:  Yo, Mr Palmer, do you gots any duct tape, dog?  

[perhaps not in exactly those words]  Unfortunately, he didn't.  

M:  Whatev.

So I used regular tape.  But Krista is halfway through taping my butt together [You know you have a true friend if she is willing to apply tape to your arse in your time of need.] when I remember that I have my NYC hoodie in my locker.

M:  Krista!  I have a sweatshirt in my locker!
K:  -_-  Yeah, <i>now</i> you remember. . .
M:  &gt;&lt;;  Sorry.

So I got my hoodie, tied it around my waist, and everything was cool.  ^_^

After school was the ACLU mizzeeting, which was fun to the max.  Today is John Lennon's birthday, so we watched a slide show about his life and listened to music.  One kid played "Jealous Guy" on the guitar, which was cool.  And we basically just talked about stuff.  I enjoyed myself.  =)
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/08/2002 07:15:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Here is who is cool:  Faith.  I was talking to her last night [I started the conversation with "I just saw your m. at Genuardi's."] and she had an India.Arie song in her profile and I was all, oh, I really like her.  And she was like, "Really?  I thought I was the only one. . ."

M:  Yeah.  I have "Brown Skin," "Butterfly," "I See God In You," "Promises," and "Video" downloaded.  Any titles you recommend?
F:  Well, I don't know the titles, only track names.  I could lend you the CD, though.
M:  Oh, cool.  Thanks!

So this morning in English she gave it to me.  :D  India.Arie r0x0rz hardcore.  Her songs have inspiring, self-actualized lyrics such as:

<i>Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be 
India Arie

When I look in the mirror the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes; I'm lovin' what I see</i>

It's funny how you can share something in common [e.g., taste in music] with someone you see every day and never know it.

After school was art club and I finished my bowl.  It is crap-for-crap, but whatev.  It's going to someone else, anyway.  ;D  Tomorrow is ACLU club.

"<b>ACLU CLUB</b>: Join the ACLU tomorrow in Room 155 for a special gathering. We will commemorate John Lennon on his birthday. A history of the ACLU will also be presented. Power to the people and come!  T. Kummer"

[And I totally didn't know my Latin teacher was sponsoring it until just now when I looked it up on the website (my school is totally Internet-l33t).  R0x0r.]  So this brings my total clubs up to four, I think.  Key Club, Art Club, Building With Books, & ACLU Club.  I am so participate-y.  Also, Allison insists I sign up to be a student council member-at-large.  So even though all the spots are probably filled, I'll get a form tomorrow for her sake.  :D  'cause I'm a good friend.

I have an A in math [95 something] and an almost A in chemistry [89 something].  Yay.  ^^  Life is good.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/07/2002 07:40:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to the orthodontist this eve.  Dr. Azizi told me I should wear my retainer more often and then did this weird thing which felt like he was sawing my lower teeth.  But when I left, he told me to keep up the good work.  So whatev.

Afterwards me mum and I stopped at the local Genuardi's and purchased some necessities.  You wouldn't think as much, but the Genuardi's is quite a happening place.  I saw my seventh grade math teacher, Ms Durel and Mr Sitron shopping together, and I talked to them briefly.  :D  Teachers are cool people.  Also saw Faith Amanze's mater, who is a sweetheart, and the mater of Alex Mamolou, who talked to my own m. for a while.

Should biff off and do my homework now.  Toorah!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/07/2002 04:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Do you know what is exciting?  When you get cameos in other people's dreams.

For example, a kid in my German class, Michael B., whom I believe I mentioned in <a href="http://her-own-eyes.org/blog.php?see=2002_09_15_archive.php#81922460" target="_self">this post</a>, apparently had a dream about being in German class and we were outside working on something and he asked me a question and I told him "Ich weiss nicht."  And then Frauie was all, "Ohohoho, [Almeda] didn't know something?"

I don't believe anything else of interest happened today.  :D  I'm so pathetic.

--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/06/2002 06:25:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.progressive.org/webex/mcwatch.html" target="_blank">McCarthyism Watch</a>.  Thx to <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> for leading me to <a href="http://www.progressive.org" target="_blank">The Progressive</a>.

Also, <a href="http://www.blogrolling.com" target="_blank">blogrolling.com</a> is good stuff.  In the process of transferring my links to a blogroll.  ^__^

And I greatly expanded my interests list on my livejournal <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=sailordiscordia&mode=full" target="_blank">profile</a>, even though I never use my livejournal.  ^^;
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/06/2002 10:10:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Five completely unrelated thoughts, starting now.

1.  Tee.  Silvia is so adorable.  &lt;3  She was sitting on my lap just now, following the cursor with her eyes.  :D

2.  <a href="http://www.troubled-teens.org" target="_blank">Beki</a> has a new domain.  Rizz0x0r for hyphens.

3.  The tag-board is up.  Post and make me feel loved, if you would be so kind.  ^^

4.  I think I might participate in <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>.

5.  <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0064410129.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" target="_blank"><i>CARNIVOROUS CARNIVAL</i></a> ON OCTOBER 29!!!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/06/2002 09:37:00 AM
-----
BODY:
The following written last night in Notepad 'cause Comcast is a camping llama.  However, my pater did call them to complain; don't know what they told him, but hopefully this will be sorted out A to the SAP.

&lt;Disclaimer&gt; The following post rated MO [Might Offend] for the stereotyping of American girls aged 13 - 19; however, I am allowed to mock this subculture, as I am a member of it, so nyah.  And plz don't get all "I'm a teenage girl, but I hang out with the guys and skateboard and play the guitar and wear ties and only listen to hardcore punk rock!" on me 'cause I know.  I know all.&lt;/Disclaimer&gt;

&lt;Post&gt;I am a failure of a teenage girl.

I decided I might paint my nails tonight, as I have nothing else to do as my Internet is DOWN constantly.  This is not something I do too often, which is probably just as well because that nail polish remover can't be good for the enviroment, but pretty normal teenage girl fare, no?  Comes as natural to teenage girls as breathing and talking on the phone, right?  Twist off the cap, apply polish to nails, dip back in bottle when necessary, &c.  Nothing too tricky there.

So I find a fairly trashy shade of red and start to paint the nails on my left hand.  Thumb, forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky.  Easy-peasy stuff.  Then, I start on the thumb of my right hand and WOOSH!  BOUNCE!  CRASH!  The bottle of nail polish falls on to the bathroom floor, not shattering, but bouncing a few times and spurting nail polish everywhere, like crazy <a href="http://www.umf.maine.edu/~sped/Images/Art%20Spinner.jpg" target="_blank">spinner art</a>.

I swoop down and return the bottle to the counter, then drop to my knees and start blotting up the nail polish with cotton balls.  I was worried for a second that it wouldn't come up and I'd have to explain the red stains on the bathroom floor to my mother, but fortunately nail polish remover is just as effective on bathroom floors as on your nails.  So, using a fist-sized wad of cotton balls up in the process, I remove the polish from the floor.  However, when the bottle spun out of control, it got some of its ruby innards on my jeans.  Nail polish remover does not work well with jeans.  At all.  Le sigh.

I guess I'm just not on the same wavelength as the rest of my generation.  "That Almeda," I can hear them saying scornfully yet with perhaps a touch of girlish pity in their voices as they flick their straightened, highlighted hair over their shoulders.  "Can't even paint her nails without making a mess of it.  Tchah."

However, I did see a chick flick today, so I'm not beyond all hope yet.  <i><a href="http://www.sweet-home-alabama.com/" target="_blank">Sweet Home Alabama</a></i> with Reese Witherspoon.  In the beginning she was bitchy for no apparent reason except perhaps for the plot's sake, but it got slightly better after that.  I admit to crying when she was in the pet cemetary talking to her dead dog.  I guess it's just the animal lover in me.  And ohmyLawd, Josh Lucas is SO CUTE.   Dizzamn, I would never leave Alabama if I had him in love with me.  =9  Oh, and the nice stepsister from <i>Ever After</i> was in it!  It was muy strange hearing her speak with a Southern accent.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/04/2002 03:58:00 PM
-----
BODY:
&lt;Wednesday&gt;My Internet connection is so exasperating.  It is 7:00PM and not only have I completed all my homework since I arrived home from school, but also read the entire text of <i>Princess in the Spotlight</i> [KT!  Do you own number three?] and completed a lab write-up which isn't even due till Friday.  And I was so utterly bored that I made it all special and fancy with subscripts and special characters.  Le sigh.  Boredom reigns supreme.  I am reminded of that song from the <i>My Best Friend's Wedding</i> soundtrack.  "I just don't know what to do with myself / Don't know just what to do with myself"

I could, of course, catch up on reading <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>.  But that book is SO dreary.  Well, it's not even that bad, but I'm forced to take notes on each chapter, and that just saps away whatever enjoyment I might have derived from reading it.  Erlack at literature forced upon you.

This afternoon I was in quite the dilemma.  Not only did I have a Key Club meeting after school, but also an Art Club meeting and a meeting for <a href="http://www.buildingwithbooks.org/" target="_blank">Building With Books</a>, another club.  Fortunately, with my skillful handling of the situation, everything went smoothly.  I stopped by room 215 after eighth period to get important papers related to Key Club [including information on how to get involved with the <a href="http://www.aidswalk.net/" target="_blank">AIDS Walk</a>, go team!], then went to room S111 for Building With Books, and I was planning to stay for that meeting and then go to Art Club afterwards because I was guessing the BWB meeting would be on the brief side.  [Oh, and, KT, I signed you up. Is your world civ. teacher Shipley?  I hope so, 'cause that's who I put.  ^^;]  Anyway, I passed my friend Amy on the way to S111, and she's like "What are you doing here?"

M:  Going to the Building With Books club meeting.
A:  Oh, excellent.  I'm joining that as well, but I have something else to do after school, so I told Ms Shillingsburg and she said I should just sign in on a sheet.
M:  Good plan.  I'd like to attend the Art Club meeting, so I think I'll do that as well.
A:  =)

And so I did.  We're making bowls in Art Club for some sort of benefit thing.  Mine is pretty pathetic, but.  ^^;

8:40PM.  Still unable to get online.  Just finished watching an extra on the LOTR DVD on the making of the film.  I love that movie so much.  It is amazing and the amount of detail they put into it is truly incredible.  I think this is the one exception to my rule that the book is always, always better than the movie.  &lt;3  Highlights of the documentary were the scenes of Viggo swordfighting; anything with Pippin talking 'cause he is just so adorable and hilarious and I WORSHIP his accent; Legolas putting contacts in [HA!]; what's-her-face talking in Elvish; and Cate Blanchett 'cause she's too cool.  Low point was Elijah Wood's teeth.&lt;/Wednesday&gt;

&lt;Thursday&gt; We had early dismissal today because it's parents' night, but if we had gotten out one period earlier, I would have not had gym.  While gym is not quite the bane of my existence, it is certainly very high on my list of "things the removal of which would greatly improve my quality of life."  But then, I can take the rough with the smooth, so even though I was icky and sweaty and it was a bazillion degrees, I retained my normal level of cheerfulness, you'll be happy to know.

However, when I got home from school and found my Internet connexion still down, I took a nap.  So I slept for a couple of hours, and then finding the Internet still on hiatus when I awoke, read <i>Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves</i> and, upon finishing that, began <i>Jeeves and the Tie That Binds</i>, which was the first Wodehouse book I ever read, so I wanted to read it again because reading an author for the first time is a far different experience than rereading a book the characters and writing style of which with which you are familiar.  That "no prepositions at the end of sentences" rule is an awfully trixy one.  I read somewhere that it came from Latin grammar.  Silly old Latin.  &lt;3  Languages are so cool.  I'm considering doing something with linguistics when I "grow up."  It might be fun.  Then again, it might not be.  Life is a bag and a half of tricks.&lt;/Thursday&gt;

&lt;Today&gt;  Today I woke with the distinct feeling that it should be Saturday.  But it wasn't, it was only Friday and I had to drag myself out of bed and go to school.  First period I had English and we had a sub[stitute] for the third day in a row.  Which was especially silly because my group is due for a presentation, but we've kept having to put it off and put it off.  But I do believe the sub informed us that Mr Lodewick would be back Monday and presentations would resume then.  Woohoo.

Then in world civ. a group of students did their presentation on the Assyrians and we played Jeopardy and my team won and we got Jolly Rancher lollipops and chewy candy.  =9  And then third period I got a chocolate-chip cookie from Mr Beagle for winning a Boggle-type game.  This morning was all in all a v. delicious one.  ^^

And now it's after school and I'm ready for another nap.  I = so lame.  But this is what high school can do to you.  Just another of its many ill side effects.  Boo, hiss.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/04/2002 06:51:00 AM
-----
BODY:
At the moment I am so full of anti-Comcast sentiment I could burst.  What sort of Internet Service Provider, I am asking myself, only provides Internet service in the AM hours?  A rather imbecilic one, I answer myself.

I could go on, but I have a bus of yellow hue to catch.  Auf Wiedersehen.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 10/01/2002 07:01:00 PM
-----
BODY:
AHH!  So I was standing by my bed this morning, putting my gym shorts in a bag 'cause I had gym today, when suddenly [subito!] I hear a thump.  One of my windows is at the same level as the roof of a shed adjacent to our house, so if a cat is standing on the roof of the shed, it can peer into my window.  I look up and see a cat, peering into my window.  It takes a while for my mind to register what I'm seeing, but then:  "ROMEO!!!"

I let him in the window and he runs to the cat food dispenser.  I stroke his back as he eats and he is SKINNY.  Now Silvia is petite, but I can feel every vertebra in Romeo's backbone now.  ^^;  But hopefully we'll soon fatten him up.  :D  &lt;333333  I'm so glad he's back.

So now we have three cats.  &gt;D  Good practice for when I grow up and become a crazy cat lady.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/30/2002 09:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I just finished reading Alice Sebold's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316666343/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Lovely Bones</a></i>, which Milessa gave to me this morning.  It started out really creepy, but it was equally absorbing, and I couldn't put it down.  It was morbid, yes, and sad, but the ending was not altogether depressing.  It left me with a renewed appreciation for life and extremely grateful that I'm alive and have a future ahead of me.  And not like: "Oh, I'm glad I haven't been raped and murdered," but more: "Wow, life is beautiful."  [Which, coincidentally, is the title of an amazing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6305426651/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">movie</a>.]  <3  All in all, a good book.

Talking of books, KT also lent me the second <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060294655/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Princess Diaries</a> book, so I can't wait to get started on that.  And I promise, KT, I'll give it back to you within the week.  xP  Following the book theme, I handed <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060987529/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Confessions</a></i> to KT in German and young Billy Bruce was all, "Good book alert!"  :D  I heart Will Bruce.  He is too cool.  This is a kid who jaywalks and gives drivers the peace sign.  This is a kid who goes to Unlimited Sunshine.  Imma be Will Bruce when I grow up.  xD

In other news, I was talking to Leigh at lunch today and she asked me if it was difficult learning Latin and German at the same time, and didn't I get them confused?  Tut! I said.  They're completely different languages.  But then I was conversing with KT in German and was searching for the German word for "because" and all I could come up with was "quod."  Silly Latin.

And I forgot to do my chemistry homework over the weekend so my grade has probably dropped to a B and I hate chemistry to the max.  Actually, I quite enjoy the class.  It is a thousand times more delightful than biology.  However, he always passes out worksheets right when the bell is about to ring and then I forget to write it in my  assignment book and then I don't do the homework and I feel stupid because they're disgustingly easy worksheets and if I could just remember, they'd be a cinch.

Additional note:

HAPPY BLOODY BIRTHDAY, BEKI, YOU BEAUTIFUL, BANANA-FLAVOURED, BRITISH BINT!  [That, my friends, is what I call quality alliteration.]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/29/2002 09:14:00 PM
-----
BODY:
And when I said "a day for doing homework," I of course meant "a day for watching <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JMQ5/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Very First Jeeves and Wooster</a> and working on a new layout."

So here is the new layout, all brown and Esmé-filled.  &lt;3  Not all the sections are up, though, and probably won't be up until at least tomorrow 'cause I've still got homework and stuff.

And <i>Jeeves and Wooster</i> was not bad.  Hugh Laurie was highly amusing as Bertie and reminded me of a cross between a young John Cleese and Bert from Mary Poppins.  Dick Van Dyke.  Right.  And my mental Jeeves is older-looking than Stephen Fry, but I got used to him and he's a v. good Jeeves.  Except he has this facial expression EXACTLY like one <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> often makes.  And I was like AHHHHHH!  Stop being silly!  But he didn't.  Oh, well.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/29/2002 09:38:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Watched <i>High Crimes</i> last night.  'twas fun.  Ashley Judd is so cute and I heart Morgan Freeman AAF.

Today is a day for doing homework.  Blah.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/28/2002 04:50:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to the bookstore last night 'cause I have geeky bookworm friends.  :D  Was reminded of the large quantity of books which I would like to read but haven't gotten around to yet.  <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060988649/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Lost</a></i> is finally out in paperback, but is still $14.95 over my budget, so I had to settle for reading the first chapter whilst at B&N.  Although it is only $10.47 at amazon.com.  Memo to self: always buy books online.

And you'll never guess what else I saw!  Oh, all right, I'll give you a hint.  It begins with "L" and ends with "ifesize cardboard cutout of Aragorn." [!!!]  Only my uncomprising moral sense of right and wrong prevented me from tucking the thing under my arm and running from the store.  I don't think anyone's life can be complete unless she has a lifesize cardboard cutout of Viggo Mortensen in her room.  Le sigh.

Speaking of rooms, mine is now fairly tidy.  Have you noticed that when one has a clean room, one's outlook is generally more cheerful/peaceful?  But unfortunately my room has a tendency to revert back to its usual messy state v. v. quickly.  Life is rummy like that.

<i>I read a book about Uncle Tom/ where whitey bastard made a bomb/ but now ebonics rule our song/ those motherfuckers got it wrong</i>
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/27/2002 05:54:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I got home from school and took a nap.  I am lame x afinity, but I don't care.  Sleep is good for you.

While I was slumbering, Sienna called.  She's having a little gathering tomorrow evening in celebration of her birthday.  Whee.

You know, if a stranger were to read this, I bet she or he would think I'm pretty dumb.  I mean, I can't even spell infinity.  But don't worry, I can.  I just have a quirky vocabulary.

I believe the "x afinity" thing originated from the early days of my HP message board.  There was this girl whose username was "ashleepotter1" and she was crayzee and posted stuff like
"you are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooo cool! Thanxs!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
~Ashlee Potter~"

and

"I'd love to be your friend because your sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooo awesome!!!!"

And I can't find any instances looking back now, but I swear she at least once said soooooooooooooo x infinity o's.  So Yan and I started adopting that into our conversation in a mocking way, hence misspelling infinity.  Or maybe the misspelling came from Grumphumbus.  I dunno.  It's silly stuff.

Actually, a lot of my idiosyncrasies developed from the HP message board.  "Pjoo," "womyn," "boe," "lurve," and other stuff, I'm sure, but I can't think of anything now.  ^^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/27/2002 09:17:00 AM
-----
BODY:
I'm supposed to be researching ancient Sumer, but there's definitely approx. half an hour left in the period and I'm finished.  'cause, see, we have to do <a href="http://www.geocities.com/farrington111/quest.htm" target="_blank">group presentations</a> about our ancient civilization and my group decided we would make posters, but I have no poster paper, so I can't work on it.

So I'm bored out of my mind to the mizzax.  Thank random it's Friday.  I'm tired x affinty and I want to go home and sleep.  &lt;weekends3

I really have nothing else to say.  It's only second period, so all I can talk about . . . AHH.  My teacher just walked by and I minimized this window just in time.  ^^;  Teachers are trixy creatures.  Last time I checked she was sitting at her desk doing paperwork and next thing I know she's walking down the aisle, looking over people's shoulders.  Oh, jeez.  It sure is a good thing I have reflexes like a cat.

Anyway, as I was saying.  It's only second period, so all I can talk about are first period [English - boring] and my morning.  Which was basically uneventful, as usual.  I woke up, I showered, I ate breakfast, I got dressed, I made myself a nutella & peanut butter sandwich on Jewish rye bread and grabbed myself an apple for lunch, and that's about it.

I think I'll just zone out for the next fifteen minutes; it's almost as good as sleeping.  Cizziao.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/26/2002 08:37:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Leon the Pro2003: Your profile is interesting.
Leon the Pro2003: Did you write it yourself?
alm ed a STAR: No, they're lyrics from a song.
Leon the Pro2003: I thought there was some rhyming in it.
alm ed a STAR: *nod*  :D
Leon the Pro2003: Who is the song by?
alm ed a STAR: Le Tigre.
Leon the Pro2003: Is he a rap artist?

xDDD
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/26/2002 04:46:00 PM
-----
BODY:
AHHHHHH!  <a href="http://www.mushycat.com/buttons/" target="_blank">LE TIGRE BUTTONS/STICKERS</a>!!!  I <i>so</i> want them.

God, I need some source of income.  Money sux0rz.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/26/2002 04:06:00 PM
-----
BODY:
&lt;Yesterday&gt; I was woken up at 4:30 by Silvia who thought it might be a good idea to hop on my bed and make a lot of cat noises.  Not purring, per se, but mmmrh.  Mmmrh.  Like that.  Kind of like mmmrow, but less emphasis on the ow part and more on the mmmr.  Petting her with one hand, I managed to fall back asleep again until my alarm woke me, because I value my sleep greatly and every minute counts.

Silvia is a friendly little critter, but very skittish.  If she hears a noise, she'll bolt from the room.  But unlike Malvolio, she is very easily controlled.  Like, if you click your tongue and rub your thumb in a circular motion on your forefinger and middle finger [like the symbol for money], she'll come running back.  Whereas Malvolio would just sit there and look at you, and you know that if he had eyebrows, one would definitely be raised.

In chemistry, our grades were posted, so I got an 86 on the test.  But!  The class average was 79, so I'm above average.  And my average [for the entire year so far] is a 90.09, so I'm hanging on to an A.  Barely.  It is only September, of course, so no fear.  We also learned that 15cm + 10cm = 20cm.  Chemistry math, you see.  And 10000km + 500km = 10000km.  I don't quite understand it, but apparently the 0s mean that the numbers are only accurate to a certain degree, so you can't have anything more precise than that in your answer.  It is crazy stuff.

In English our teacher was like, "If I asked you to hand in your notebooks, would you have notes up to chapter 13 [of <i>the Scarlet Letter</i>]?"  The answer was a definite no, so he was like, "Okay, I'll collect them tomorrow."  This is a problem, you see, because I had only taken notes on the first six chapters.  Which meant I had to take notes on chapters 7 through 13 in one night.  Which isn't fun.  [But don't worry, I did it, only to have Mr Lodewick not BE THERE.  We had a sub today.  Ew to the mizzax.  And everyone was like, "God, I had to take notes on three chapters last night."  "Oh, yeah?  I had to read TEN."  And then, Tom Wingert, who had read all the chapters but taken notes on zero of them, was like, "I was up till three in the morning taking notes on all thirteen chapters and then I left them at home!"]

And I also had to do six vocab exercises, and guess what one of our words is, Colin!  "Ambience."  As in, ambient.net.  And teehee, KT, the usage note on allude said to be sure not to confuse allusion ["indirect reference"] and illusion ["false perception"].  Vocabulary is a silly goose.

And then after school I had a dentist appointment and my last fluoride treatment ['cause I turn sixteen February 24!].  And the lady said my gums looked better than last time and asked if I had been flossing.  "Oh, yes, of course," I lied.  I am so trixy.  But then the dentist told me my lower teeth were getting crooked 'cause I wasn't wearing my retainer and I might have to get a special retainer from my orthodontist.  No, thanks.  But maybe I'll start wearing my retainer at night 'cause of course having straight teeth is highly important to my physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being.

And then we ate dinner at Burger King because the volleyball team was doing a fundraiser and my chemistry teacher coaches volleyball and was offering extra credit and my friends are on the volleyball team, so they were there handing out little tickets.  I had a veggie burger 'cause BK is cool and serves them. &lt;/Yesterday&gt;

Today nothing of great import occurred.  We've been going outside in art this week to draw the building [we're learning perspective, which is dreadfully dreary], but it rained today so we had to stay inside and pick a corner of the room to draw, which was fooey.

And that's about it.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/24/2002 03:52:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I arrived at the bus stop this morning and began chatting with Mlles Allison and Danielle when:  "OMG!  My gym clothes!"  So I sped like greased lightning back to my abode and realised the door was locked [if you don't twist a little knob and push a little lever up, it locks itself behind you].  I pounded on it for a bit, then tried to get in the cellar door, then ran around to my brother's window, which was very fortunately open, and yelled at him.  "Colin!  I need you to get up!"

C:  *groggily*  Wha?
M:  *urgent*  I'm locked out!  Let me in!

Then I run around back to the door and he lets me in.  I zoom past him, grab the bag with my gym clothes from my room, and zoom out again.  I make it to the bus stop just as the last person is getting on the bus.  I board, and it is uber mega crowded.  I have to sit on the very edge of a seat, with more of me off than on, so I have to lean against the opposite seat with my arm to prevent myself from falling onto the floor when we make left turns.  When we arrive at the school, the bus driver tells us we're having a emergency drill.  She tells us to leave our bags on the bus and then go outside and stand by the wall.  So we do, and the right half of my body is like numb from supporting myself with it, and I'm shizzaky to the max, but I do as she says.

Then she says we can go back on and get our stuff, so people start to get on the bus, and then once they get their stuff, they try to get off, but there's only one door, so everyone's like pushing past everyone else and it was stupid and pointless.

The rest of my day was better, though.  Well, fairly better.  I got a 93 on my math test, which wasn't bad, but I definitely didn't do that well on the chemistry test.  I forgot/didn't know we had to study the names of state changes like fusion and sublimation and deposition and all that crizzap, so that's certainly a shame, but c'est la vie.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/23/2002 03:55:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Attended the first meeting of art club this afternoon.  The teacher-sponsor-person is ADORABLE.  I heart him 100 percent.

And I really don't have anything to say.  Today was rather uneventful.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/22/2002 07:41:00 PM
-----
BODY:
We brought Silvia home today.  ^__^  Silvia's her name now.  *nodnod*  As in SILVIA, <i>beloved of Valentine</i>.  As in <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>.  She's so sweet.  But Malvolio hasn't gotten used to her yet.  ><  Hissing and growling and suchlike.  Ah, well.  I'm sure he'll come around.

I don't have anything else to say, so I'll type up a few old diary entries.  You get to see what I was like three years ago.  :D

<b>Thursday, August 5, 1999
10:02 PM</b>

Dear Millie,

Gues what?!  Mommy and Daddy said that we can get kittens!  We took Brutus to the vet today because the poor thing's leg is still botheirng him and on the counter there were 2 kittens in a cage!!  They were both 9 wks [sic] old, brother and sister.  The boy was all black with a patch of white on his neck.  The girl was an orange tabby with pink paws.  They were so adorabley [sic] CUTE!!  I hope we get them.  I also hope Brutus get [sic] better.  I feel so guilty, like "in with the new, out with the old."  But Brutus knows I'll always love him.

~Kate

- - - - - - -

<b>Friday, August 6, 1999
10:06PM</b>

Dear Millie,

I'm worried about Brutus.  The people at the animal hospital left his blood sample out all night, without refridgerating [sic] it, so we had to take him back for another blood sample.  They'll have the results by tommorrow [sic] I think.  Mommy and Daddy are worried he might die.  I hope they're wrong.  You know the kittens I told you about?  Well, I'm pretty sure we're not going to get them.  A lady took them home to see if they got along with her other cat, and even if she decides not to keep them, which is unlikely, there are other people interested, too.

Love,
Kate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

<b>Saturday, August 7, 1999
10:02PM</b>

Dear Millie,

Today we adopted 2 kittens!  They're both gray with stripes.  Mommy called the Women's Human Society (I think that's what it was called) in Bensalem and asked if they had any kittens.  They said 'yes'!  So, the whole family, plus Allison because we were going to get together today, anyway, drove to Bensalem.  It took us forever to get there (actually only about 1/2 an hour).  The addres was 3839 Richlieu St, but we passed the street because it didn't have a sign.  Then when we finally arived it was really hard to pick out which ones we wanted.  There were so many, all without homes :(  When we finally picked out the ones we wanted, it took a very long time to fill out the forms and all the boring stuff.  Daddy picked out the names: Romeo and Malvolio.  Right now Romeo is sitting on my back.  Boy, it stinks in here, Malvolio pooped on the bed, but we changed the sheets.  Mommy still thinks Brutus will die :(

Love,
Kate
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/21/2002 08:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
lick omg i fink <a href="http://www.likebuttah.com/kusotare/comics/comics.php" target="_blank">diz</a> iz so funi lollolz, even though I'm a <a href="http://www.likebuttah.com/kusotare/comics/comics.php?id=4&which=comics" target="_blank">teenage girl</a> who writes about her boring life on her website.  ^^;
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/21/2002 08:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://foi.missouri.edu/terrorandcivillib/fbichecksout.html" target="_blank">This</a> <A href="http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/6598" target="_blank">is</a> <a href="http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=1&id=2235" target="_blank">scary</a> <a href="http://jeffcrook.20m.com/mad.html" target="_blank">shizznit</a>.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/21/2002 04:31:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I love Le Tigre so much.  &lt;3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/21/2002 03:31:00 PM
-----
BODY:
&lt;Yesterday&gt;I missed the bus this morning, probably because I took the time to paint my toenails.  I mean, I most likely would have missed the bus anyway, but when you're in a rush, it's not the best idea to stop and paint your nails.  But I had to, you see.  I was wearing an off-white peasant top with flowy sleeves, and the only thing I had to wear with it was my denim skirt, and then the only shoes that would go with both the top and the skirt were open-toed.  So I had to paint my toes.  xP

I have academic access English every Friday, right?  Since I missed school last Friday, I missed academic access.  So today in class he asked everyone to get some paper out and I raised my hand and said I wasn't here last Friday.

"The good news," he said, "is that I'll give you this paper."  And he gave it to me.  "The bad news is that you won't get any credit for it because you had to come in before class and ask about it."

So I was like, "Grr."  But I said, "Okay."  Then I quickly do the sheet of analogies and then he goes over the answers and asks people to pass them up.  "I just did them before you read out the answers," I tell him.  "Should I hand it in?"

He says, "Okay, I'll let you get away with it this time."  And I'm like, "Yessssss!"

Then we take this practice PSAT thing and there are fifteen questions.  At the end of fifteen minutes he goes over the answers and then we have to tally up our scores [correct answers are worth 1 point, wrong answers worth -1/4, and questions left blank are 0] says, "Well, I don't expect anyone to get fourteen, thirteen, or twelve, but how about eleven?  Anyone get eleven?"  And then I raise my hand and meekly say, "I got thirteen and three-fourths."  &gt;D  Go me.

Okay, new topic.  So there's this really cute junior whom I see in the hallways sometimes who is sex on toast, but I saw him from the side for the first time today, and OMG, his nose is like. . . well, it's extremely Snape-esque.  Which I totally wasn't expecting.  But don't worry, I'll still continue to admire him from afar.  It adds character to his profile.  ;D

In German today, young Will Bruce was wearing an Unlimited Sunshine t-shirt and I was like, "OMG!  Will Bruce, did you go to that?"  And he quoth, "Yea, verily."  And I was like, "OMG! So did I!!!"  And he quoth, "Really?" in a kind of "Are you serious?  You're the last person I'd expect to have attended that concert." sort of voice.  And I was like, "Yeah."  And then he said that Michael Bostock, who sits betwixt us, had also gone, and then Mike was all, "Did you like the Flaming Lips?"  And I was like, "They were really weird."  And he's like, "They were amazing." or something along those lines.  And then Will asked me who I went for, and I said all sheepishly, "Cake."  And Mike was like, "Ew, Cake.  Snotty, intellectual rock." or something.  And then he imitated the sound of Cake and we laughed because Mike is amusing.  And then Will Bruce was like, "No, Cake is cool."  And then Mike was like, "De La Soul was cool.  They were all, 'I love myself!  Now you say it!'"  Good times, good times.

Immediately after I got home from school.  Wait.  I'm getting ahead of myself.  First I would like to say that Milessa [sic] was reading "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316666343/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Lovely Bones</a>" on the bus, and it took me a minute to connect the title with the plot, but then I was like, "OMG!  You have to lend me that!"  And she's like, "Well, it's my sister's, and two other people already asked to borrow it, but after that, you can read it."  :D

Now to after school.  Immediately after I got home from school, my mater asked, "Do you want to see <i>Spirited Away</i>?"  And I was like, "Hell, yes."  And she's like, "Okay, then to see it at 4:15, we have to jump in the car right now and pick up Colin and Nora before they get on the bus."  So we drive to Copper Beech, pick up the little squirts, and head downtown.

Except there's an accident and we're stuck in slow traffic and we arrive at the Ritz ten minutes after the movie started.  And then Colin's all whingey and "I don't want to see it if we miss the beginning," so we decide to hang around until the 7:00 showing.  So we go next door to a Chinese restaurant and have dinner there.  For desert we had green tea ice cream, which was crazy-go-nuts weird.  Like, the taste was all right, but there was this freaky-deaky texture to it which gave you the feeling you were eating sand.  Which is okay, if you like that sort of thing.  But then I poured a packet of sugar in the dish and stirred it up and ate it a lick at a time, and it wasn't so bad then.  ^^;

We still had an hour or so before the movie began by the time we finished eating.  So we hung out at "<a href="http://philadelphia.travelape.com/attractions/welcome-park/" target="_blank">Welcome Park</a>" and read about William Penn and played tag and stuff.  xD  Fun times.

And then it was 6:45 and we walked to the movie theater.

<i>Spirited Away</i> was crazy-weird, but crazy-funny and crazy-cute.  Definitely see it. =)
&lt;/Yesterday&gt;

This morning Allison and I hung out at the local Wawa for two hours, collecting money and dispersing bags of peanuts for the local Kiwanis club.  So that's two hours of community service down, thirteen to go.

And then the whole family took a trip to the SPCA.  Romeo still hasn't shown up and Malvolio is lonely.  ;-;  But I still have faith in my darling Romeo.  I read this article once about a cat who like walked across the entire continent [or something like that] and then returned to his owners, so maybe he's just taking a vacation.  =\  Well, anyway, we picked out an all-black cat who is very sweet.  Her name is "Thunder," but I don't know if we're going to keep that name or my dad's going to rename her Rosalind or Hermia or Olivia or Viola or something silly.

Also, if anyone wants to buy me a Blogger <a href="http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=blogger" target="_blank">messenger bag</a>, that would be fun.

"We grow tyrannical fighting tyranny. The most alarming spectacle today is not the spectacle of the atomic bomb in an unfederated world, it is the spectacle of the Americans beginning to accept the device of loyalty oaths and witchhunts, beginning to call anybody they don't like a Communist."
-E.B. White, writer (1899-1985)

I got that quote in my <a href="http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/" target="_blank">A.Word.A.Day</a> mailing list.  I like it.  ^_^
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/19/2002 08:13:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Mater:  Have you put on some weight?
Me:  . . .?
Mater:  You should start exercising more.  Nip it in the bud so you don't end up like me.
Me:  . . .
Mater:  Do any of your clothes feel tighter?

Between my grandmother telling me what a beanpole I am and my mother acting like I'm a ball of lard, I don't know what to think.

And remember how I said I was expecting my period last week?  It still hasn't come.  ><;  Maybe I'm pregnant.  One of those immaculate conception type things.  ^^;  Or not.  But maybe I'm bloated.  Fluid retention is one of the most common symptoms of PMS.  Hm.

Maybe I'll move to Benin.

"In some areas of Africa, for example Benin, a girl is most attractive if she is fat.  The heavier she is, the more beautiful she appears to suitors.  The Western view that beauty requires thinness is a recent one.  As paintings of earlier centuries reveal, stoutness was admired." - from a world civ. handout
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/19/2002 04:08:00 PM
-----
BODY:
We played football in gym today.  [American football, that is.]  Well, some people played a game and others [including self] just passed a ball back and forth.  Rachel Looney and I were partners and our teacher came over and was like, "Oh, you girls are good!" and we felt like football supahstahz.  :D

&lt;snob&gt;Also, I am way ahead of my Latin class.  They are all fools.

Take the word "deus," for example.  Our teacher writes "Jupiter est deus" on the board.  A girl guesses that the meaning of "deus" is "king."  -_-  Has she never heard of "deus ex machina"?  "Deity"?  It's really not that hard to figure stuff out.  "Hominum," for example.  "Sapientiae," for example.  "Iratus," for example.  Faugh, I was helping this boy study before the bell rang and I asked him what the word for angry was and he couldn't get it, so I was like "Think of irate," and he's like. . . "that's an English word?"  ><;

We started some mythology today, which was silly, because I'm already familiar with Greek/Roman mythology, and if I'm familiar with something, everyone else should be too.

But I put up with the stupid people anyway because Latin is funfun for everyone.&lt;/snob&gt;  ^__^  Only it's tricky because I'm also learning German, right?  Well, in German the letter "w" is pronounced "v."  In Latin the letter "v" is pronounced "w."  So "wir" [German for "we"] is pronounced "vir" and "vir" [Latin for "man"] is pronounced "wir."  It's crazy stuff, y0.  And tee, Mr Kummer is a Pisces.  As am I.  And as is the pjooey girl who thought "deus" meant "king" and is loud and annoying and in my chemistry class and says "I don't care" whenever she pronounces something incorrectly.  [The Pisces thing came up when we were discussing "piscinam."  ^^]

I have q. a lot of homework tonight, such as studying for a chemistry test, <s>completing my art project [which amounts to drawing an apple core]</s>, <s>writing a blurb about symbolism in chapter IX of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i></s>, <s>completing a chemistry lab report</s>, and <s>finishing a physical map of the Libya, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Cyprus, Turkey area</s>.  So I'll just go get started on that now.  [Done my homework! . . .I'll study tomorrow morning.  ^^;]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/18/2002 04:34:00 PM
-----
BODY:
HA!  Just goes to show that you can never place too much value on the psychology of the individual.

For example, this morning I was all, "Oh, Comcast, you suck so much, I bet you won't work when I get home from school," and it was all, "Is that so?" and I was like, "Uh huh," and it was like, "Oh, yeah?" and I was like, "Yeah," and it was like, "Well, I'll show you!" and it worked when I got home!

So yesterday during my little Internet hiatus I watched <i>Casablanca</i>.  It was all right, but Humphrey Bogart annoyed me with his "Oh, I'm so manly and tough because I talk in a growly emotionless voice."  I suppose I would have thought he was the hottest thing since sliced bread if I lived fifty years ago, though.  Just goes to show how times change.  Oh, and I wore my sexy pleather pants yesterday, which perhaps wasn't the wisest decision as I had gym and temperatures were a little on the high side, but you know me, slave to fashion.

Yesterday I meant to blog about how I missed Illinois and how everything was simpler and peaceful there, but whatev.  And I was also going to blog a dream I had, but I told it to Allison instead, and now I don't feel the need to get it out.  Oh, and after <i>Casablanca</i> I watched <i>Toy Story 2</i> 'cause I had absolutely nothing to do and it was much funnier than I remembered it being.  "Well, slotted pig. . ."  :D  And after that, I began reading <i>The Amber Spyglass</i>, and I found this quote with "her own eyes" in it and I was like SQUEE!

<i>Nevertheless, his skepticism affected her, and as she crumbled the dark gray tea brick into the water, she wondered what in the world she thought she was doing, and whether she had gone mad, and, over and over again, what would happen when the Church found out.  The golden monkey was right.  She wasn't only hiding Lyra: she was hiding her own eyes.</i>

Go team Philip Pullman!

And now on to today.  We had pictures for yearbook/school IDs.  The silly photographer told me to push my glasses up.  It's like, excuse me, maybe I enjoy wearing them on the tip of my nose.  PSHAW.  And we had a chemistry lab and I got to measure the mass and volume of friendly little rocks.  Loads of fun, as I'm sure you can imagine.  And young Ricky Ryan poked my midriff.  Prolly 'cause it was revealed and revealed midriffs are very tempting areas of skin.  Unless your initials are E.B., in which case you should PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, FOOL.  Disgust to the max.

After school was the first Key Club meeting.  Key Club is "the biggest club in the school" and you basically do a lot of service hours and it looks good on your college transcript.  ^_^

And I think that's it.

Wait, no, that's not it.  I just remembered a rant.

The SATs are crap and SAT preparation courses are doublepluscrap with knobs on.  In English we were discussing [well, the teacher mainly] about how the rest of your stupid life depends on the SATs, &c.  And we got little flyers for this course [the Princeton Review] that will improve your SAT score by at least 100 points, but it costs 500 dollars.  It's like, what utter bullshit.  The tests aren't testing anything but how well you've been trained for them.  Which amounts to how much your parents were willing or able to fork over so you know where it's at.  What a world we live in.  Disgust.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/18/2002 06:54:00 AM
-----
BODY:
I hate my ISP with the heat of a thousand suns.  It seems to find it amusing to only provide my home with Internet access in the wee hours of the morn.  ;-;
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/16/2002 08:50:00 PM
-----
BODY:
At last I've returned from the land of Lincoln.  I definitely don't feel like going back to school tomorrow, but that's the way life goes.

I woke up around 9:30 this morning.  Ate breakfast, packed, and we were on the road by 12.  Well, first we stopped to visit my grandparents' friend Naomi, to prove to her that they really had a granddaughter visiting.  =)

They live about two hours from the Indianapolis airport, so we got there around 1:15, I guess.  I got my ticket, bid them farewell, and breezed through security.  I then found a seat at gate D2, which is where the guy at the counter told me to go, and began to read.  Eventually my plane started loading.  My watch said 2:30 [it was still set to EST, which was a mistake on my part, because I added an hour instead of subtracting it to get Indianapolis time.  ^^;].  

I waited in line to get on the plane and a young squirt pulled me aside.  It appeared they were doing random searches.  So I had to hold out my arms as a woman scanned me with a metal detector thingy and give my backpack over for a guy to search.  Then the young man who pulled me aside asked me to take off my shoes [so he could search for bombs, one presumes].  I wore flip-flops on the flight over because I had been warned of this, but since they didn't check my shoes then, I guess I had been lulled into a false sense of security.  But I can take the rough with the smooth and untied my shoes and gave them to him for inspection.  He commented on their state of muddiness [yeah, I didn't see HIM traipsing about the Illinois countryside] and returned them to me.  Meanwhile, a guy is going through my backpack.  He pulls out my P.G. Wodehouse books and says I have good taste.  I smile my agreement.  It's best to humour people who are invading your privacy like that.  

Anyway, I pass the security test and am allowed to board the plane.  I walk down the aisle to my seat and find it's occupied.  I show the womyn my ticket, she shows me hers, they both read 13D, so we go up to the flight attendant.  The flight attendant examines my ticket and tells me I'm on the wrong plane.  -_-  As I'm walking off the plane, the guy who took my ticket finds me and apologises for not looking at my ticket more carefully.  He tells me to go over to a guy behind a counter to get a new ticket.  I do so and the guy tells me my plane doesn't come for another hour and a half.  So that's what I get for not setting my watch to mountain time or whatever it's called.

Eventually the plane that's going to Philadelphia, not Charlotte, arrives and I board it with no problems.  My seat is on the aisle again, but I very slyly note that the row across from me is empty, so real slippy-like, I switch to the window seat in that row and everything is right with the world.  The flight was again quite enjoyable, I finished my math homework, and I drank ginger ale and ate airplane pretzels.  Yay.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/15/2002 08:43:00 PM
-----
BODY:
What ho!  I was too lazy to blog about yesterday yesterday, so I shall do that now.

In the morning we headed into town, so to speak, to purchase bandages and other necessities at the local Wal-Mart.  When I arrived here on Thursday, it was under the cover of darkness, so I got to see the area for the first time yesterday.  There are q. a lot of fields of corn and beans and sorghum and there are barns and silos and trailers and houses.  There are cows and horses and roosters and a donkey.  We drove through a state park and I even saw a deer.  It was lurking in the woods, but I spotted him [only male deer have antlers, correct?] because I have eyes verily like a hawk.  [When I'm wearing my spectacles, that is.]

After we got back from our excursion, my oma and I did some Photoshop stuff.  We made a transfer of our family <a href="http://her-own-eyes.org/coatofarms.png" target="_blank">coat of arms</a> [Her maiden name is Albrecht and according to her I have an Albrecht nose and Albrecht toes.  :D] and then attached it to a canvas, which I get to keep.

Then in the evening I went out in the <a href="http://her-own-eyes.org/kayak1.jpg" target="_blank">kay</a><a href="http://her-own-eyes.org/kayak2.jpg" target="_blank">ak</a>.  You'll notice, of course, that I am wearing a life jacket.  This is because my motto is "Safety first."  It is a good motto to have, especially when one is partaking in such dangerous sport as pond kayaking.

You may be thinking that pond kayaking is all fun and games and there is no harm in that.  Well, you are quite incorrect.  For example, I had just reached the middle of the pond when I noticed a stick insect on my life jacket.  I am not generally a squeamish person, but I don't enjoy stowaway bugs.  So, as fast as I could, I began to take off my life jacket.  But then it began to crawl on my arm, the rascally thing.  I, always cool-headed, refuse to panic and remain as still as a cheetah, if that cheetah were given heavy tranquilizers and frozen in cryogen.  Eventually the bug grows tired of my arm and returns to my life jacket.  At this point, over the initial shock of sharing my kayak with a little friend, I take off my life jacket and lay it on the kayak in front of me.  I then paddle to the edge of the pond and hurl my life jacket over the side, hoping the stick insect will crawl off it and onto the grass.  After a few false starts, the creature eventually evacuates my life jacket.  I fish the life jacket out of the pond and put it back on, 'cause I don't want my oma coming out and seeing me living so precariously.  I like to live life on the edge, you know, but there are times when one must bend to the wisdom of one's elders.

So that was yesterday.  But the excitement doesn't end there, my friends.

Today we drove maybe half a mile [I'm a city girl; I measure distance in blocks.  Thus, when there are no blocks, only dirt roads and an average population density of about 1 person per square mile, I have no sense of how far anything is.], then got out of the car and walked through a lot of mud.  That's nature for you.  So we took our little hike, then walked back to the car, which was parked at a spot where three roads diverged.  The one on which we hiked, the one whence we came, and a third.  Instead of turning the car around and driving on the road whence we came, my oma suggests we take the third road.  "People have been known to get stuck in the mud there, but you can probably make it," she says.  Well, perhaps those were not her exact words, but I have a tendency to paraphrase.  At any rate, we drive up the hill, get stuck in the mud, and have to walk home.  It was not really a long walk, but it was longer than I would have liked.  My one consolation was that we walked past my grandparents' neighbor's house, who has two teenage sons.  One of the teenage boys was working in the garage [he wants to be a mechanic, so I hear] and listening to music.  But that is not all.  He was shirtless.  So I didn't mind walking past there too much.  ;D

And that is all.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/14/2002 10:48:00 PM
-----
BODY:
As I mentioned, my grandparents are into genealogy and have this program on their computer with a huge family tree.  I've been having mucho fun browsing it.

Dick Cheney is my seventh cousin, three times removed.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt is [or was] my eighth cousin, four times removed.  I have a great-great aunt named Katherine/Kathryn and found a picture of her at age 15 [and her younger brother and sister] in a photo album, which I would like to scan.  She died on my birthday, February 24, in 1969.

There are q. a few delightful names in this database.  I have a great-great-great-great aunt named Minerva, a great-great-great aunt named Beulah, a 5G aunt named Percy Delilah, another named Phebe Phalina, a 7G aunt named Silence, a 10G aunt named Mehitable.  My great-great uncle was married to a woman named Hedwig.  I have a fifth cousin, seven times removed named Lucius.  There's no Severus, but I have a third cousin, seven times removed, a first cousin, nine times removed, and a second cousin, eight times removed all named Severinus, plus an 8G grandfather named Severenus.  :D  When I have children, I am so naming them after dead relatives.  And all these are just on my dad's side.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/13/2002 08:05:00 PM
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BODY:
My grandparents live in the middle of nowhere.  It's so disconcerting looking out the window and seeing a <i>Signs</i>-esque cornfield across the road [which is gravel and extremely bumpy].  Despite what common sense tells me, I can't help but thinking of America as urbs and suburbs from coast to coast.  But that really isn't the case.

And they have a pond behind their house, only it is a REAL pond.  Not like the puddle we have in our backyard.  And they have a kayak and today we brought it out of the shed and washed it so I'm going to go kayaking in the pond.  :D  And they have many, many mirrors in their house.  Mirrors of all sizes in every room.  It is fun.  When I am grown up and living in my own house I shall have a large mirror collection.

<abrupt subject change>Now I know the pledge of allegiance conflict is <i>so</i> passé, but Cathy's comment in my blog got me a-thinking, so now I have to write down my opinions and then I can stop dwelling on it.

First.  Don't you dare trample my rights and act like it's my problem for being thin-skinned.  I linked <a href="http://www.komotv.com/kenschram/story.asp?ID=19122" target="_blank">that article</a> a while ago where the guy is all "Oh, next thing you know, those crazy radical atheists will want us to take "In God We Trust" off the money!  Ohoho!"  It's like, no, we're not being unreasonable.  We're standing up for our rights, and thus, everyone's rights.  Sorry for not being a doormat.  [When I say "we," I mean "everyone who thinks it's unconstitutional for impressionable kiddies to be forced to recite 'under God' in public schools."]

Second.  I don't know why people see it as theists vs. atheists.  If you allow the line between church and state to blur, even the tiniest bit, you are one step closer to a state-sanctioned religion.  And you would think the people who HAVE religion would be more protective of their right to freedom of religion.  But I guess not.  As long as they're not forced to say "one nation under Vishnu," they don't have a problem with it.  As long as they're thrusting their beliefs on others and not the other way around, it's okay.  Which is extremely shortsighted and egocentric.  As I have sometimes heard it said, what goes around comes around.

It reminds me of that story where there is like a rabbit or some other friendly little critter living in a forest and a big monster comes and takes away all the birds.  And the birds are all, "Help, help!" but the rabbit doesn't care because he is not a bird.  And then the monster takes away all the squirrels, but the rabbit isn't a squirrel, either, so he doesn't help.  Then the monster takes away all the deer, foxes, bears, &c, until only the rabbit is left and then the monster comes for him, and he yells for help, but there is no one to help him because they are all GONE.  Or something.  That is the gist of the story.

And I think that's all I had to say in re the pledge & state-mandated learning institutions.

I played around with Photoshop today.  Edited a picture of Nora so that she had green hair and was wearing my [oversized] glasses.  >D

Oh!  Allison!  My grandparents are really into genealogy, and they have this huge family tree thing on the computer and it has everyone's birthdates and locations and my dad was born in . . . Fort Sill!  It's in Oklahoma, apparently.  :D  [My opa was in the army, so they moved around a lot.  One of my aunts was born in Hawaii, another in Germany, &c.  My dad was an army brat.  >D]

And that's all.  Cizziao, my piggesnyes!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/12/2002 11:18:00 PM
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BODY:
Greetings from Illinois!  [My grandparents live in Illinois, but the closest airport is Indianapolis.]

I needn't have worried about the audition/plane conflict.  I told Mr Kelly I had to be gone by 3:30, and he was like, "Okay, rifle through those papers and put yours on top."  I did and was done auditioning by 3:05.  I don't think I did poorly, but I wasn't outstanding either, and one needs to stand out if one wants to be a part of these sort of things.  So I hung out with my friends for fifteen minutes because my mater said she'd pick me up at 3:30.  However, when I finally went out to the parking lot, she informed me that she had been there for quite some time.  Ah, well.

She drove me to the Philadelphia International Airport and dropped me off.  I waited in line for these guys to check my suitcase, but when it was finally my turn, the guy asked me how old I was and when I answered, told me I needed to go inside.  So inside there is another line and a sign to the effect of "if you are next in line, go to an available kiosk."  I step up to a kiosk and it asks me to insert my credit card for "identification" purposes.  I tell the lady behind the counter near my kiosk that I am fifteen and have no credit cards, so she looks at my printout [I had an "e-ticket"], looks at my school ID, gives me a non-e-ticket, checks my suitcase, and tells me where to go.  I head towards the escalator and escalate, as per her directions, and find myself in a third line.

A lady checks my ticket and then I put my bag on the X-ray thing and walk through the metal detector.  Fortunately I have no sharp objects or bombs, so no problems there.

At this point it is approximately an hour until my plane starts loading.  I spot a shop across the way from my gate and look in it for pads, as according to my calculations, my little red-headed friend will come to visit within the next few days.   Unfortunately, the Phila. Int'l Airport is anti-womyn and had no pads; only trashy books and cigarettes.  I did, however, purchase a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Cherry Coke, which was pointless because it just made me have to pee and they provided free soda on the plane anyway.

I read P.G. Wodehouse while waiting for my plan and read P.G. Wodehouse while on my plane.  Planes are exciting creatures.  They are like roller coasters, only better because you're up in the air supported by nothing but air.  It's practically magic, baby.  Sadly, I had an aisle seat.  Perhaps on the way back I will get a window seat.  Window seats make the world go round.

When I got off the plane in Indianapolis and was walking towards the baggage claim, I noticed a shop similar to the one in the P.I.A.  Whilst I strolled by, I peered in the window in hopes I might spot pads.  At first I saw a package similar to the ones pads come in, but upon further scrutiny, I noticed the word "Pampers."  However, as I took a few steps forward, more packages came into view and I spotted the words "Always" and "Tampax."  So I nipped in and grabbed [and paid for, of course] the pads, grateful that the cashier was a womyn.

As I made my way to the bag claim, I spotted my opa and oma.  Hugs all around, "My, how you've grown," &c.

And now I'm here.  They have a Mac.  :D  Maddy would be proud.

They also have a non-roller-ball mouse, which makes my heart sing with jealousy.

All in all, it is a nice setup.  Toodlepip!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/11/2002 04:00:00 PM
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BODY:
Don't worry, my little friends!  Comcast got its arse in motion and I'm back online.

I'm too lazy to detail the past few days, so I'll just break them down into good things and bad things.

<b>Good things</b>
- Dorney Park was fun!  <Talon3
- I'm learning Latin!  :D  Cornelia est puella Romana, quae in Italia habitat.  Cornelia et Flavia sunt amicae.  Cornelia sub arbore sedet et legit.  Dum Cornelia legit, Flavia scribit.  :DDD  Quiz tomorrow.  Go team!
- I'm not starving anymore 'cause I'm eating lunch in art!  And speaking of art, it is fun.  ^__^  We're drawing fruit.
- School in general is fun.  The homework part is kind of fooey, but I heart the people.  Especially Stasia Orkwiszewski, quae my hero est.
- I saw <i>Billy Elliot</i>!  It was q. sexy, but we had to turn the subtitles on 'cause we couldn't understand a bally thing they were saying.  Maybe everyone who speaks English should speak it the same. xP
- I saw <i>L.A. Confidential</i>!  It was q. violent, but it was q. worth it for Guy Pearce, qui the sexiest man ever est.  His cheekbones are amazing.  <333
- I am member of the moment at <a href="http://www.smooo.com/sbnn/" target="_blank">Straight But Not Narrow</a>.  ^__^
- The second chapter of Year of the Cat [practically the only fanfiction I read] came out!
- Beki has a new <a href="http://www.ensnared.org/" target="_blank">layout.</a>

<b>Bad things</b>
- Our cat, Romeo, has gone missing.  He is an outdoor cat and we haven't seen him in a couple of days.  ;-;
- All-school play auditions are tomorrow after school.  My flight to Indianapolis is tomorrow after school.  -_-  See the conflict?  But the auditions are at 2:45 and the flight is at 5:50, so I'm thinking if I speak to Mr Kelly, who I hear is the man behind the play [which I hear is "The Scottish Play"], he will perhaps make sure I'm auditioned and out of there by 3:30.

<i>so here's a toast to all the folks who live in palestine 
afghanistan 
iraq 

el salvador 

here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation 
under the stone cold gaze of mt. rushmore 

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors 
who daily provide women with a choice 
who stand down a threat the size of oklahoma city 
just to listen to a young woman's voice 

here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now 
awaiting the executioner's guillotine 
who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads 
to find peace in the form of a dream</i>

~ Ani DiFranco, <a href="http://www.danah.org/ani/SoMuchShouting/SelfEvident.html" target="_blank">Self Evident</a>

We had to say the pledge today.  "Under God" and all.  That makes me sad inside.  It's like, hey, let's have a moment of silence for all those people who died and then let's promote the very ignorance that caused the deaths of those people.

Also, <a href="http://www.cp-tel.net/miller/BilLee/quotes/Franklin.html" target="_blank">Benjamin Franklin</A> is my Jesus.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/11/2002 06:27:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Yeah, maybe the Internet should never only work in the wee hours of the morning when I can't post in depth because I have to go to bloody school.  Perchance it will be permanently working again by this afternoon.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/10/2002 06:28:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Internet connexion was acting up last night.  Will post when get home from school.  Pip!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/08/2002 08:55:00 AM
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BODY:
Last night/this morning I read <i>The Princess Diaries</i> and I can't believe I only got around to reading it just now.  It's so funny!  And I totally identify with Mia, except I'm not the princess of a foreign country, or any country, for that matter, and I'm not in love with my best friend's older brother.  In fact, I don't even have a best friend.  I just have a lot of vague friends.  Like, ones you wave to in the hallways and sit with at lunch.  Not ones you tell your deepest, darkest secrets.

But, still.  She's vegetarian!  And she wears combat boots!  

"My life is a convoluted web of lies."

&lt;Mia3

Laura & Jane are picking us up at approx. 9:15, so I ought to go get ready.  ^.^
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/07/2002 07:16:00 PM
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BODY:
*swells with warm and fuzzy feelings*  <i>Ever After</i> is such a lovely movie.  It makes me want to cry and laugh and dance and sing and scream and cheer and fall in love.  And I don't care what <a href="http://www.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a> thinks; Drew Barrymore is my hero.

Homework completed:  0%.  But it'll get done eventually, I'm sure.  ^^;

Dorney Park tomorrow!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/07/2002 03:33:00 PM
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BODY:
I read <i>Just Ella</i> last night and enjoyed it.  Independent womyn and all that.  Tr00 love and all that.

My room is slightly tidied.  I should probably also do my homework sometime today because I will be BUSY all day tomorrow.  Huzzah for weekends.  ^.^
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/06/2002 08:48:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Took a trip to the library this evening.  Borrowed some more P.G. Wodehouse books.  =9  Also borrowed <i>The Princess Diaries</i> and <i>Just Ella</i> 'cause I'm a teenage girl and you can't stop me.  And borrowed the <i>Billy Elliot</i> DVD 'cause I've never seen that movie and the <i>Ever After</i> DVD 'cause I enjoy that movie.  Of course, I'll probably have to return all of the books before I get around to reading them because no doubt my teachers will soon realise it is imperative that they assign as much homework as possible so as to completely use up any free time I might have had for such leisure activities as reading.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/06/2002 05:49:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Looking at Harry Potter <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/index.htm" target="_blank">pictures</a>.  I love Kenneth Branagh as <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/1854.htm" target="_blank">Lockhart</a>.  Colin Creevey is just <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/5731.htm" target="_blank">wonky</a>-looking.  Rupert Grint is my <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/923.htm" target="_blank">hero</a>.  They should just put him in vertical stripes, platform shoes, and have Scabbers be played by a chihuahua instead of making Daniel Radcliffe <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/9629tif.htm" target="_blank">slump</a> and pretend he has no neck.  Dobby is the <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2-FILM-001.htm" target="_Blank">sux0r</a>.  Tom Felton is <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2SP-1208r.htm" target="_blank">tall</a> [for a twelve-year-old. . . or however old he's meant to be] and the broom definitely kicks arse!  Lucius Malfoy is <A href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2SP-2334R.htm" target="_blank">weert</a> and looks like he should be in LoTR rather than HP.  Also, why couldn't they give Snape hair that long?  ;-;  Ginny is <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2SP-2463.htm" target="_blank">ADORABLE</a>, but why'd they have to straighten her hair?  It's pjooey and preppy and fake-looking.  She's eleven!  Filch is so much more fun in the <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2SP-2720.htm" target="_blank">movies</a> than in the books.  I love the actor who plays him.  And is <a href="http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/potter2/hp2_early/pages/HP2SP-2935.htm" target="_blank">he</a> Tom M. Riddle?  He looks too old.  And too clean.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/06/2002 03:26:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Whee, Friday already!

I left my folder containing both copies of my schedule at home today and barely managed to get through the day.  It's not that I didn't know the classes, it's that I didn't know the room numbers.  Especially for my English academic access class, which is only on Fridays, so I hadn't even been there before.  Thankfully Erica Dion was in my class [I overheard her and another girl talking about what they had next in world civ.], so I asked her what the room number was and she knew and I didn't get lost.  :D

The class itself was surprisingly enjoyable.  Probably because I like analogies.  Or, as our teacher put it, "Anal-oh-geez."  He is q. strange.  But he shook my hand when I knew what a "rustler" was and made me feel special [and a bit geeky 'cause before I answered he was all "this would be v. easy for an old person, but I don't expect you to know it"].  &gt;D  Go team pseudo-old person.  Also, he called us "critters," which is almost like "creatures," and that makes me smile.  

Because I didn't have my schedule, I had to guess at classroom numbers.  For instance, I guessed that my algebra room was 229.  So I'm walking down a hallway and I come to a T.  216 - 227 to the left, 200 - 215 [or something] to the right.  I decided my class can't be either way, and turn around.  I'm heading the other way when I spot  233.  And I know the room numbers only get higher from there.  Fortunately at this point Allison appeared, like a beacon of hope, and asked me where the hell I thought I was going.  Only, not quite, but that was the general gist of her communication.  I told her I had no idea and followed her.  Algebra's in room 211.  -_-;;

And I'm learning that my math teacher is v. easy.  He seems to think we're much stupider than we actually are.  "To add fractions, first you must find something called the least common denominator."  Yeah, no kidding.  &lt;slight exaggeration&gt; We learned how to add fractions in like kindergarten. &lt;/slight exaggeration&gt;  But I don't mind because I prefer classes that are too easy than too hard.  [This is because I am what I've sometimes heard termed a "slacker."]

That's all for today.  Dorney Park Sunday!  w00t!

Oh, and I forgot to plug Colin's sexxxy new <a href="http://www.paradoxy.org" target="_blank">layout</a> yesterday.  Visit!  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/05/2002 08:13:00 PM
-----
BODY:
La, nothing of great import happened today, but I plan to ramble on anyway, out of habit.  ;D

I did have Latin for the first time, and while Mr Kummer is certainly quirky, he lacks the certain OOZING-SEXINESS! factor which Mr Kleba possessed.  I shall give him a chance to improve my opinion of him, though, as I'm a generous person and don't judge people based on a half hour or so of recording book numbers and drawing poor maps of Europe on the board.

I also had PE, and it promises to be just as pjooey as ever.  Plus, if you play sports, you are given the option to "opt out" of gym and Cathy and Erin are opting out because they are in marching band, which is apparently considered a sport, and are fools and double pjoofaces with knobs.  But we'll see.  Yes, we shall see, indeed.

In German class, young Anthony Catanzaro turned to me while we were brainstorming and asked me when I had got my hair cut and where and blah, &c.  And when I was answering him I started blushing [well, I think I started blushing. . . I couldn't see my own face, but I felt my cheeks getting rather warm], which annoyed me, especially because I had no reason to blush whatsoever.  Yes, I used to like him in seventh grade, but I have certainly gotten over that.  Plus, he is a bit slow.  Well, that's unfair.  He is not a bit slow, he just is better at learning material when it's presented in the right way.  And he's good at German, so he can't be that dull.  [Anyone who can speak German is extremely brilliant, in my book. :D]

Oh, and I had a quiz in chemistry.  On the second.  Day.  Of.  School.  But don't worry, I kept a stiff upper lip and proved that we Almedas are made of stronger stuff.  Yes, I got a nine out of ten, whereas most of the people around me got a ten out of ten, but since I don't plan to be squirting chemicals in my eye, I really don't think it's necessary for me to know whether one cleans one's eyeballs with the little spray thing for five minutes or fifteen.  And in the case that someone else accidentally squirted acid in my optic region, I'm sure my teacher would instruct me on how long to keep rinsing my eyes.  Le sigh.  There's no practicality in quizzes these days.

Afterschool, I ate an apple, a banana, AND a bowl of cereal.  "What a greedy little piglet!" you might exclaim, if you are the sort of chap who promotes such organisations as <a href="http://www.ana-by-choice.com/" target="_blank">AnaByChoice</a> and enjoy your women with birdlike appetites and sticklike appendages.  However, I'll have you know that this is the result of having to take pointless classes like academic access when instead I could be eating lunch [as the more astute/stalkerish of you are surely aware, I only have two lunch periods a week due to my three electives and rather crowded schedule].

Then I finished reading <i>Strata</i>, by Terry Pratchett, which delighted me greatly.  And now I think I shall biff off and dig in to the preface of <i>The Scarlet Letter</i>.  Yum.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/04/2002 04:15:00 PM
-----
BODY:
So, I survived my first day as a sophomore!  :D  Go team.

&lt;Play-by-play account of today's events&gt;

I wake up at 6:36, 'cause my clock is stupid and thinks it's PM rather than AM and thus the alarm didn't go off at six like it was supposed to do.  "Oh, jeez," I say to myself.  "I am NOT going to miss the bus on the first day of school."

I leap out of bed and jump in the shower.  In less than five minutes, I am out again and putting the water on for oatmeal, so it'll boil while I get dressed. [I am the epitome of efficiency.] The weather was forecasted to be in the 80s, but since I just bought all those fall clothes, I say "Weather be damned," and put on my corduroys and the red peasant top [and my new shoes!].

I brush my hair, put on earrings, eat my bowl of oatmeal, brush my teeth, &c.  At this point it's like 7:05, when my bus is supposed to come.  So I run out the door, cut through my neighbour's yard, from which point I can see my bus stop.  There is no one there.

Either I'm really early, or late.  I glance at my watch and decide I'm late and have officially missed the bus on my first day of high school.  [Technically, last year was my first year, but it wasn't real high school, 'cause I was in a building with seventh and eighth graders.]  I trudge back home and tell my mum I need a ride to school.  Being the kind  and nurturing womyn she is, she obliged.

I get to school, walk into the cafeteria, greet my friends, and all that.  Then I go to first period, 'cause there is no advisor room any more 'cause our school is trixy.  It's English.  Mr Lodewick.  He seems pretty cool.  He used to teach at the junior high, and apparently knows Mr Kleba and taught Kleba a few trix or two [and by a few trix, I mean the art of making young scholars take Cornell Notes on literature they read], so this ought to be exciting.  We didn't really do anything in this class 'cause there were supposed to be announcements, although there never were.

After first period, we all went to the auditorium to be lectured to by an assistant principal.  It was boring to the mizzax.  When we were released from there to second period, I just went with the crowd, hoping the flow of traffic would carry me to my second period class.  It didn't.  Upon asking my friend, I found out that my class was in the opposite direction and I had to about-face and fight my way back.  My world civ. teacher is a blonde womyn who coaches field hockey and likes political science.  Ms Farrington.  She passed out a syllabus and talked a bit about what to expect, et cetera.

Then I was off to academic access, which is a class to prepare us for the PSAT and SATs, if I'm not mistaken.  I sit behind Amy, so that ought to be fun.  &gt;D  All we did today was fill out those silly note cards with our parents' work numbers and our hobbies.

After academic access was art.  I walked in and sat next to Marisa.  ^.^  Our teacher will be very cool, I think.  Her name is Ms Caracciolo, or just Ms C. 'cause her last name is awfully trixy.  There are some juniors in our class, so she didn't really tell us anything important about the class [today was sophomores-only].  We did go around and say our names and something about ourselves.  And we got blowpops.  :D  Also, she says we can eat during her class if we don't have lunch, and even go to the cafeteria and buy some food as long as we check in with her first.  She is no Mr Shelton, but I think I will like her v. much nonetheless.

Then came chemistry.  Wednesday is our lab day, so we had a double period.  The first period he passed out our textbooks and lab manuals and a syllabus thingummy.  The second period we had to take notes on this muy silly movie about safety.  There will be a quiz on it tomorrow.  -_-  Our teacher's name is Mr. Palmer, and he is slightly cool.  There is a Gryffindor penant hanging on the door of the room.  I'm not sure if it's his, but anyone who likes Harry Potter is cool by me.  Except my homeroom teacher last year who had Harry Potter folders, but was v. not cool.  Mr Palmer also had this weird way of talking in which he would use the sound "eh" or "ay" or "a'ight" or "o'ay" rather frequently.  It confused me a bit, but don't worry, I'm okay.  Oh, and Ian Cooley, on whom I [and just about all the other girls in my class] had a crush in third grade is my lab partner.  He is pretty quiet, but pretty smart, so I think things will work out lovely.

After chemistry was algebra with Mr Kusner, pronounced Kushner.  [Kind of like Kosisher, pronounced Koshisher, which is my mum's cousin's (I think) last name.]  It was okay.  He says he's only going to check homework only once or twice a week, so that sounds excellent.  Also, this is my only class with Allison, so we were sending each other secret messages with our eyes.  :D  And Dennis Arocena and other cool people are in my class.  But so is Ellina Berdichevsky, ick.

And lastly was German class.  No surprises there, as I've had the same teacher for the past three years.  :D  Go team Frauie!

In case you're wondering, I <i>did</i> catch the bus home, so hmph.  And I plan to catch the one in the morning tomorrow, don't you worry.

&lt;/Play-by-play account of todays' events&gt;

Tomorrow I have Latin and PE for the first time.  And the juniors and seniors will show up as well.  I'm sure it will be just as exciting as today.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/03/2002 06:04:00 PM
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BODY:
Eeeeee, I'm getting all antsy.  School tomorrow!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/03/2002 11:59:00 AM
-----
BODY:
I woke up at 10:00 today, despite setting my alarm for 6 last night.  This is not good.  What if I sleep in on the first day of school?

Speaking of school, how am I supposed to get from class to class?  Am I supposed to know my way around already?  Should I bring a map?  Do I even have a map?

These are v. pressing questions.

I had an eye doctor appointment this morning.  He basically just made me read charts and asked me if the letters were blurrier with this lens or that lens, then declared that my eyes had not gotten any worse, I didn't need a new prescription, and that'll be seventy-five dollars, if you please.  To be an eye doctor sounds like an easy and rewarding occupation.

Also, next weekend Laura [the pseudo-aunt with whom I went shopping yesterday], Colin, Nora & self are going to Dorney Park!  Fizzun.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/02/2002 09:04:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went shopping today!  I am so exhausted, but it was so worth it.

Trousers:
* blue jeans from Reference, slightly faded
* tan corduroys from Aeropostale
* red trousers that are far sexier than they will sound if I describe them, so I just won't - from Wet Seal
* black pleather pants for THREE DOLLARS (!!!) from Wet Seal

Tops:
* red strappy thingummy from W.S.
* red short-sleeved peasant shirt from W.S.
* black camisole from W.S. [buy two on-sale items, get one free]
* black long-sleeved peasant shirt of the slightly sheer variety from Macy's
* beige of the same [I did a fashion show for my parents, as histrionic, attention-seeking children with new clothes are wont to do, and my dad was all, "What is this?  The 1970s?  I think you should go look at your mother's yearbook."]
* chocolate brown sweater thingummy [I went shopping with my pseudo-aunt who said chocolate brown is a v. becoming colour for me.  ^^;] from Macy's
* black sweater thing with a belt type thing that goes through loops, also from M.

And would you believe I got it all for $150?   Well, my aunt put in fifteen dollars or so, but still.  Q. the bargain.

And I got my hair trimmed, which was like pointless.  But y'know.  Must fight the good fight against split ends.  Right ho!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/02/2002 12:12:00 PM
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BODY:
Ooh, got two postcards whilst I was gone.  ^.^

One from Allison from Assateague Island, with pretty horsies on it.  One from my belurved Venom-p from Jerusalem.  It says Golan Heights Winery on it and has grapes.  Whee!  *loves getting mail*
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 9/02/2002 07:43:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Am back!  And have fixed the comments!  So everyone be a dear and comment away!

Books read on trip:  <i>Jeeves in the Morning</i>; <i>Right Ho, Jeeves</i>; <i>The Cat-nappers</i>; <i>The Mating Season</i>; <i>The Golden Compass</i>; <i>The Subtle Knife</i>.   Note how the first two books of His Dark Materials are on my list?  This is because the Wallingford Public Library is cut from a superior cloth than the Abington one, and had these two fine books in stock in my hour of need.  You might say, well, perhaps the Abington library has a larger pool of people interested in reading these books.  I say, stuff and nonsense!  They should have more copies in the first place, then!

Items purchased on the trip:  Grey turtleneck sweater, brightly-coloured toe socks, Old Navy shirt, Steve Madden shoes, two pairs of unmentionables.

Times self cried on trip: 2.  Now this is highly unusual as I am not prone to go about crying willy-nilly.  I would blame it on my monthly womynly cycle, but it is not that time of the month, so to speak, and should not be for a couple of weeks.  

I will give you the breakdown so you can analyze my psyche.  The first time, we were in Kohl's, looking for some clothes.  I picked out some stuff to try on [including the grey sweater mentioned earlier] and went into the dressing room.  I tried everything on, and decided to get the sweater and a plaid skirt.  Then Gram Apple went over to the section which sold hair accessories because she wanted to buy a headband.  Nora and I trailed after her, and we passed the juniors section.  I was a little annoyed.  Like, why weren't we looking for clothes <i>there</i>?  I am a junior, after all.  Well, I am a sophomore, technically, but pish.  But Gram Apple probably didn't know I was a junior or probably wasn't used to shopping for people my age or didn't see the juniors section or thought all the clothes there were ugly and I would do better in the non-juniors section.  However, my brain wasn't working logically or maybe I was just in a foul mood, because I somehow thought that Gram Apple intentionally ignored the juniors section to spite me.  [This was not true and if I had asked G.A. if I could look at clothes there, she would most likely have had no problem with it whatsoever.]  So I was in an upset sort of mood.  I decided the plaid skirt was ugly and I didn't really want it and went to put it back while G.A. & Nora picked out some headbands.  Blah, blah, blah.  Then, in the car, I started crying.  Like, tears welling up in eyes.  Only I kept my face to the window, and I don't think G.A. noticed.  I don't know why I didn't want her to see me crying.  Maybe 'cause I didn't know why I was crying and couldn't explain it to her.  Maybe 'cause I see crying as weak or stupid or pointless.  Anyway, I rolled down the window and eventually stopped crying.  But that was nothing compared to the next day.

Me, my mum, Gram Apple, and Janet, my mum's cousin, were playing a game of cards.  Pinochle, I think it was.  I am not good at Pinochle.  I barely knew how to play it.  This contributed to the problem.  Also, I rarely play cards.  And when I do, the games I partake in are not usually ones in which it is crucial to tell clubs and spades apart.  So during the game I am doing stupid things, like getting clubs and spades confused.  If you say spades, I know what a spade looks like, so I can figure it out.  But if you say clubs, I don't think about it and get confused.  Anyway, I started crying.  First it was just my eyes getting moist, and me wiping them while nobody was looking 'cause of my not-crying-in-front-of-other-people thing.  I dunno.  I thought I was being pretty slick about it, but I guess not 'cause my mum was all patting me on the back as she came back from the bathroom and saying things like, "It's only a game of cards.  I would pick you as my partner everytime.  Don't feel worthless.  You're a human being and you're special!  &c."  So I excused myself to the bathroom, blew my nose [I don't know about the rest of you, but my nose starts to run when I cry.  Especially when I have a cold.], splashed my face with cold water, took a few deep breaths, and went back out.  While in the bathroom, I noticed that my face was pretty red, so I guess it was obvious that I was crying.  At that point, we decided to end the game of cards 'cause my dad was itchy to get on the road and it looked like it would be a while before we got a winner of the card game.  So I go into the living room and get the box of the books and CDs I brought and my shoes and start to carry them out to the car.  By the time I get to the door, I am sobbing.  And hyper-ventilating.  My dad asks what's wrong, I shake my head and go sit at the table in G.A.'s backyard.  I try to breathe slower, but it's a couple minutes before I stop hyper-ventilating and then I'm just sitting at the table crying.  Janet and Gram Apple come out and Janet's like, "Oh, I cry everyday, it's good for the soul," and pats me on the back.  I hug everyone goodbye and we get in the car.  I lay in the back, put Tori in my CD player, and put my headphones on.  At first the songs ["Winter," "Girl," "Crucify," "Only Women Bleed," "The Waitress"] just make me sob harder, but by the time "Professional Widow" comes on, I'm okay.

And thus ended my trip to Connecticut.  But don't worry.  I'm in peak condition now and feeling rather chipper!  Especially because I got to read all my comments.  Like:

"SQUEEEE X AFINTY!!!  

And now you're GONE and I can't thank you properly!  

You know, I'm at school for my birthday, so I don't really get any of my presents.  This made me feel more special than any gift I got or am going to get.  Thank you x afinty.  You are r0x0rlicious."

:DDDDDD
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/30/2002 05:24:00 PM
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BODY:
Went shopping today!  Got amazingly cute Steve Madden shoes, which look more or less like <a href="http://www.stevemadden.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/STORE/filtrexx40.cgi?U+madden+fmgo0429+-P+STYLE+Babie+/usr6/htdocs/stevemadden.com/STORE/rtdetailNL.frm" target="_blank">this</a>.  I wanted them in red, but they sadly didn't have them in my size.  Also got a shirt from Old Navy.  ^.^

Teehee.  Last night, I had a dream.  [I found myself in a desert called Cyberland. ;D]  In one part, I went back to school and <a href="http://paradoxy.org" target="_blank">Colin</a> was in my chorus class, even though I'm not even taking chorus.  So that was silly.  And then I was at home on my computer and <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</a> told me how to read my tagboard archives.  She said that if you clicked on the person's name, all the messages they ever posted to my tagboard would appear.  It worked in my dream, but obviously that is not the case in real life.  Silly Elly.  And then she was playing Barbies with my sister and she also sent me a chain letter-type e-mail that if I sent it to like six other people or whatever I would get free CDs.  And don't worry, Elly said, she scanned the e-mail and there were no viruses attached.  Silly, silly Elly.

And before I went to school, I think I went back-to-school shopping [this is still in my dream] and Frauie [my German teacher, who has cameoed in my dreams before. . . "You'd probably do better with a horse."  :D  Allison knows what I'm talking about.] was there and she showed me these pants that I really liked.  It was muy silly.

That's all, folks.  Except I think I'm coming home Sunday, not Saturday.  h8h8h8xinfinity.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/29/2002 08:00:00 PM
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BODY:
Ahahahaha!  Am genius!  Figured out how to login to FTP.  Will see what can do on the comments front.

. . .

Fear have botched situation hopelessly.  H8@librarycomputers.

If you are exceedingly desperate to contact me, snapesgirl at yahoo.co.uk.  I fear the comments will be down until I return home.  Le sigh.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/29/2002 05:16:00 PM
-----
BODY:
In other news, Sir Ryan Collins has obtained a <a href="http://www.ruairi.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>.

Upon perusing said blog, you might make the deduction that KT and Sir RC are, so to speak, an item.  But wait, you might exclaim!  Did not Sir Ryan attend the freshman formal with Almeda?  And you would be exactly right.  But young Sir Collins moves fast, and since Almeda was not particularly interested in Sir RC as more than, as it's said, a friend, this is q. okay with her.

I enjoy likening the situation to a P.G. Wodehouse novel.  Self as Bertram Wooster, Sir RC as Madeline Bassett, and young KT as one Augustus Fink-Nottle.  I shall leave the well-read to derive my meaning.  [And that meaning is NOT everyone in the Abington area is a transvestite, thankyouverymuch.  ;D]

And now, my little ones, I'm off.  Pip-pip and all that!  Perhaps in my absence the comments will fix themselves.  Keep your fingers crossed, wot?
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/29/2002 04:58:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Sacre bloody bleu.  I KNEW I should have brought the control panel information and e-mail crizzap information.  I knew it!  I even considered writing everything down, just in case.  But no, silly old me, no, I decided not to.

So now the comments are not appearing.  I am pretty sure they are there, lurking somewhere.  Before I left, I got an e-mail notifying me of some comments Yan made.  I just can't figure out how to make them reveal themselves.  And I won't until I get home because I can't FTP or anything.  Blah x infinity.  You should comment anyway, though, 'cause I will at least get to read them when I get home.

And also, the tagboard only shows like the last ten posts, so if you said anything before that, I never got to read it.  h8h8h8.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/29/2002 04:55:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Greetings from the Wallingford, CT.!  A sign above the computer I'm on says "<u>No games, chat or instant messaging</u> allowed on this computer," but as this isn't any of the above, I think I'm okay.  &gt;D

So.  Would you like to hear the tale of my journey here?  Of course you would.

My alarm woke me at 7:00 yesterday morning with the melodious stylings of Le Tigre.  I roused myself, had a spot of breakfast, and got on the computer.  For the next hour or two, I worked on getting her-own-eyes.org up and running, so I could release it, as it were, before we left.  I succeeded, as you may well have noticed, and eventually we were in the car and on our way.  Not to Connecticut, as one might assume, but to Wilkes-Barre.

You see, the parental units are planning to attend a wedding, so they decided to send us off to stay with our grandmother.  However, they were not about to drive us there, so the g. agreed to drive down to WB, meet us, and drive us back to her home.

So it's the mater, me, the brother, and the sister in the car, racing [although never going above the speed limit, of course] towards Northeastern Pennsylvania.  If you've never had the privilege of visiting good ole NEPA, let me tell you, there are many mountains.  Well, I don't know if they are all official mountains, over however many feet or whatev, but they certainly are no molehills.  Also, for every mountain, there are about a gajillion trillion trees.  Like, insanely large amounts of trees.  Like, I feel like throwing off all my clothes and running through the seemingly neverending forest.

So we arrived in Wilkes-Barre, but before meeting up with my grandmother, we went to Konefal's for lunch with my grandfather, who v. kindly slipped us each $100.  I wish I had had it earlier, so that I might have bought her-own-eyes.org with my own money, but this way I'll just spend it on back-to-school clothes.  So that was nice.  I felt bad because he's in a nursing home and we [well, I] haven't visited him in years.  Teehee.  When we were walking into the nursing home, we passed two guys smoking.  Then we passed a sign that said "This area is not approved for smoking.  Please move to the gazebo."  People are so silly.

After lunch with mummy's dad, we jetted off to my great-aunt's house where Gram Apple was waiting to meet us.  The mater had a short chat with said great-aunt and G.A., and then we were in Gram's car and on our way to the Constitution State.  [We passed an exit for Hazleton.  Cols, do you live in Hazleton?  I thought it sounded familiar, but was not q. sure.  Also, <3xinfinity to <a href="http://paradoxy.org" target="_blank">paradoxy.org</a>.]

We played the license plate game and got 29 states plus Ontario.  :D  It was fun 'cause if we saw a plate that appeared to say "Washington," but left us scratching out heads over whether it was the state or the district of c., the old flesh-and-blood would rev up and go speeding after it.  &lt;Gram Apple3

200 miles and four or five hours later, we were in Connecticut.  ^_^  Went straight to bed after finishing <i>Right Ho, Jeeves</i>.  Hi-bloody-larious.  Wodehouse is a veritable genius.

And that's all I can think of to say now, except my brother is an arse and Monopoly is not boring at all.  xP

[Note: I should have known better than to leave for a different state right after getting this up.  Of course it has to be all stupid and non-cooperative.  The comments do work, I receive e-mails notifying me of them, but I guess they're not showing up on the page.  Will work on that.  Grah.]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/28/2002 09:07:00 AM
-----
BODY:
:D  Ta-dah!  Welcome to her-own-eyes.org, y'all!  It's a little bit bare, but that's because I'm a little bit rushed.  So fresh and so clean clean!

Leaving for Connecticut today.  Projected return date:  Saturday.  Will not have computer or Internet access except at local library where Gram Apple works.  So don't count on updates.

Also:  <a href="http://surprise.unburdened.org" target="_blank">HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBEY</a>!!!  <333333 x sideways 8.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/27/2002 11:23:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.un-done.net/killtheromance/" target="_blank">She</a> is cool because she says LOL/LMAO/LMFAO a lot and makes me feel like I'm really funny even when I'm not at all.  But don't visit her because she's working on a new layout and there is nothing there except for the words "working on a new layout."
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/27/2002 10:51:00 PM
-----
BODY:
D00t da d00. . . 

<font size="6"><a href="http://surprise.unburdened.org">SECRET PROJECT REVEALED</A></font>.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/27/2002 04:48:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.bunda.org" target="_blank">Bunda Captain</a> (4:31:03 PM): Hey, this is bunda from bunda.org.  You referenced me a little while ago on your blog.  I'd just like to say I really like it.  Normally I'm not a fan of weblogs where people talk about what's going on in their lives, but you're very intelligent and your writings are great to read.

Children, this boy knows where it's at.  Flattery gets you everywhere.  Visit him.  ^.^  [He is equally (if not more so) intelligent and his writings are equally great (and far less mundane.  ;D)]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/27/2002 01:01:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Miscellaneous schedule updates.

Chemistry with double R.

Ryan Collins joins the ranks of my math class.

Krista is also in my math clizzass, as well as my world civ. class.

This looks to be an intriguing year.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/26/2002 07:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
FlirtC921 (6:34:28 PM): you know ani difranco right
alm ed a STAR (6:34:31 PM): I do indeed.
FlirtC921 (6:34:34 PM): awesome
FlirtC921 (6:34:37 PM): just wondering
FlirtC921 (6:34:55 PM): I was listening to her cd's today and was thinking hey---kate would like her

Go team Ani!  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/26/2002 06:14:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Burned four CDs today.  >D  Made one from my Ani DiFranco .mp3s, one from my Tori .mp3s, one from my Le Tigre .mp3s, and one from my Rent .mp3s.  I have one blank CD left, so I'm not sure what I'm going to put on it.  Possibly Ben Folds/Weezer/Placebo/The Strokes/Radiohead/Jimmy Eat World/Idlewild/other.  ^^;

I think I've decided on a domain name, but I'm not going to tell you.  Suspense, muah.

Random note: cranberry juice is the yummy.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/26/2002 12:08:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Here are to whom I miss talking:  Allison and Abbey.

So maybe they should come back from vacation/get online.

Also, this hunt for a domain name is killing me.

Recently I've considered:  launenhaft.org, her-own-eyes.org, rhapsodist.org, and more.  But none of them are just right.  Or the ones that are just right are taken.  ;-;
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/25/2002 12:46:00 PM
-----
BODY:
My plans, as it were, per se, so to speak.

<b>Aug. 25</b>  Dinner downtown at aunt's house.
<b>Aug. 27</b>  <i>House of Mirth</i> & friends due back at library.
<b>Aug. 28</b>  Abbey's birthday.
<b>Aug. 28</b>  To grandmother's house we go.
<b>Aug. 31</b>  Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
<b>Sept. 1</b>  We'll-register-your-domain-for-free! offer ends.
<b>Sept. 4</b>  Toward school with heavy looks.
<b>Sept. 12</b>  Indianapolis ho!
<b>Sept. 13</b>  P.G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett literature due back at library.
<b>Sept. 16</b>  Return trip.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/25/2002 11:10:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Yesterday I was chatting with Sienna online when she asked me if I was doing anything today.  I said no, she said me either, do you want to come over?  I said, sure, why not?  So I biffed off to her house round 3:00.  

What I like about Sienna is that she is, to use a cliché, v. real.  I q. enjoy her conversation.  We talked about going back to school, people, clothes, & more.  Q. an enjoyable time.  Then we decided to take a walk around her neighbourhood.  A girl our age had just moved in on the same block, so Sienna wanted to stop in and compare schedules.  The girl's name is Claire and she's from Virginia and is pretty and seems v. nice and is apparently smart and athletic as well.  Also, she is q. preppy in appearance, which intimidated me a bit, as I = not preppy.

After we stopped by at Claire's, we returned to Sienna's house, at which point Sienna signed online.  A friend of ours named Leigh [whose dad works with Claire's dad] IMed Sienna, asking if she wanted to go to Miriam's house to watch a movie.  [I was invited too.]  

At six forty-five, we were waiting outside Sienna's house for my mater to drive us to Miriam's house when Leigh's mother and Leigh drove up.  To pick up Claire, you see, who was also attending the movie-watching affair.  So we felt silly.  But then my mater drove up right afterward and we got to Miriam's house before Leigh and Claire.  Teehee.

We watched <i>The Breakfast Club</i>.  We meaning Leigh, Claire, Miriam, Sienna, Laura Workman, Aliza Greenblatt [am unsure how to spell her name], and I.  It was certainly a v. interesting movie.  And after the movie ended, <i>Mrs Doubtfire</i> was on, so we watched part of that.  Then Leigh's maternal unit picked us up and drove us home.

Also, I have learned that Aliza and Leigh are in my English class and I have lunch with Miriam and Leigh!  So go team.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/24/2002 05:49:00 PM
-----
BODY:
At Sienna's house.  :D  Talked a lot.  Sienna's cool.  ^^

Going to Miriam's house at 7 to watch movie wif homedawgz.  Go team!  <3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/23/2002 10:24:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to the library this evening.  Took out three P.G. Wodehouse books, two Terry Pratchett [whom I've never read before] books, <i>Dead Poets Society</i>, and <i>American Beauty</i>.  I would like it known that my mum chose AB, not I.  h8@antiwomynmoviez.

Also, was distressed to find that <i>The Golden Compass</i> was checked out, while <i>The Amber Spyglass</i> [which I own] was not.  Evilevilevil.

Also also, I feel ill.  My mater says she probably gave me her virus.  Sore throat & stuffy nose = not fun.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/23/2002 03:53:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Extra notes re: concert.  [If you haven't read the post before this yet, do so.]

"It was from a Beatles Concert... or a tribute concert. It was a British flag/USA flag yin-yang sign."  - Marisa on boy's t-shirt.

"That was the bass player." - Marisa on bald guy with guitar-shaped instrument.

"At first it seemed ridiculous to stand up and shout, but when I did after Meda asked, "Will you stand up with me?" it was a ball. A fucking fun ball! They were throwing balloon balls too. So I was singing and waving my arms and making a "thug face" as Smith so eloquently put it. I only felt left out when people were waving their lighters in the air. Obviously I did not have one." - Marisa's blog.

I am so self-conscious.  I wouldn't even stand up unless my friends did too.  But don't worry, by the time Cake came on, all signs of self-consciousness were G to the izz ONE.  Also, I had forgotten about the lighters.  That was fun.  One of the guys from De La Soul had them turn the lights off and got everyone to take their lighters out.  I told KT I wish I had a lighter, and she suggested I take up smoking.  I told her it wasn't worth it, so we bantered for a bit about how I would only be dying seven or eight years earlier, well, maybe 30 if I got cancer, but hey what're the chances of that?  :D

"They played: Arco Arena, Comfort Eagle, Love You Madly, Frank Sinatra, Never There, Sheep Go To Heaven, Nugget!, Stickshifts and Safteybelts, Jesus Wrote a Blank Check, The Distance, Mr. Mastodon Farm, Ruby Sees All, and of course Short Skirt, Long Jacket!"  - Marisa's blog.

She has some songs I didn't list and she's probably right because she is a hardcore Cake fan and knows more than me.  ^_^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/23/2002 02:50:00 PM
-----
BODY:
And now, the tale of Suburban White Girl Goes to Alternative/Hip Hop/Punk/Other Concert.  This is going to be long, so get comfortable.

Marisa's mother picks me up at 4:30.  I'm all dolled up with lipstick, earrings, midriff-revealing t-shirt, tight pants, and high shoes.  We then pick up KT and head for the Mann Center, arriving at about 5:10.  As Marisa, KT, & I step out of the car, we get the feeling that everyone is looking at us.  We also get the feeling that we are q. younger than everyone else hanging around the area, and far less punky.  I think, <i>So this is what your average Cake fan looks like</i>.  I can't describe it exactly, but it's definitely a type.  Maybe college-aged, or just out of college.

So, we're standing there.  "Can we do something?" KT asks.  "I don't like people looking at me."

"We could sit down," I say, and sit down cross-legged on the pavement.  They join me.

"So," KT says. "Fifty minutes to bond."  [The concert doesn't start 'til 6.]

We talk for a while.  Eventually we notice people starting to go in, so we stand up and mosey on over to the entrance.

I give my ticket to one of the people standing there, who reminds me that once I go in, I can't leave and reenter, so I should make sure I have everything.  I nod and continue in.  A black guy stops me and checks my purse to make sure I'm not smuggling in a camera or drugs or whatever.  At first I have no idea what he wants, so I just stand there.  He tells me to open my purse.  I'm like, Ohhhhhh, and I open it to show him that I don't have a camera or anything.  He rewards me with a blue sticker.  Yay.

So we walk in, past the concession stand and the t-shirt place, to the seating area.  An usher asks us if we need help finding our seats; we tell her we'll be fine.  We walk around for a bit, but the seats seem to end in the 80s.  Our seats are 103 - 105.  We decide to go back and ask the usher [because we are all womyn and it doesn't hurt our manly pride to admit that we are lost].  She points us to an area closer to the stage than we had thought our seats were.  Coolies.  We mosey on over to the general area to which she pointed and another usher person with a really ugly beard directs us to our seats.  At this point, we still have like 15 minutes at least till the concert begins.  KT cleverly brought a notebook and pencil, so we play a couple rounds of hangman.

A guy and a girl take the two seats on my left.  [Guy: 101, Girl: 102, Me: 103, KT: 104, Marisa: 105]  The girl has short dark hair and is wearing a shirt that says "JOE" on the front and "MAMMA" on the back.  The guy has the exact same shade of hair [which made me wonder for a moment if they weren't brother and sister], is wearing a visor, and a black shirt with some image on it.  I noticed that it had a British flag type pattern on it in one part, but I felt it would be kind of rude for me to stare at his chest, so I only got a few quick glances at it.

The girl turns to me and asks me who we're here to see.  I tell her Cake, and she replies, "Oh, Cake's cool," and gives me the thumbs-up sign.  I return the gesture and smile.  She then tells me that they're Flaming Lips fans.  "Oh, cool," I say, or some other such smile-nod reply.  I turn back to KT and Marisa and we are talking when some girl in the row in front of us with wavy brown hair in a big, messy-type bun at the back of her head and a peach/tan tank top walks by and asks if we "have a cigarette I could bum."  We reply in the negative and burst into giggles as she walks away.  

KT at this point comments that, "Marisa looks her age, I look twelve, and [Almeda] looks eighteen."  KT doesn't really look twelve, but she does look a bit out of place with her long, white and blue-checked skirt, which would probably have been more at home in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book.  It's totally groovy, though.  :D

Eventually the first band comes onto the stage.  They're called Kinky and they're from Mexico, so most of their lyrics are in Spanish.  But they kicked ass, anyway.  The lead singer looked like Daniel Radcliffe, I thought, but KT commented that he looked like Elijah Wood and that fit as well.  Just imagine a sort of feminine-looking guy with dark hair.  I liked him.  He was very high-energy.  Smiling and dancing about on stage.  Then there was this bald guy on a guitar-shaped instrument [I'm horrible with musical instruments. . . -_-], who seemed like a nice sort of guy, but that might just have been because he wasn't spitting on stage or smoking while he played like the other guy with a guitar-shaped instrument.  However, the smoking spitter was wearing a sexy cowboy hat and sexy, tight bellbottoms.  >D  There's also a guy on drums, who's short with dreads, and seemed to have a lot of personality, and a guy on some sort of machine thing.  I don't know.  Whatever.  So they were cool, but it was a shame that the Mann Center was only about half, or even a third full at this point, because they deserved a bigger audience.

After Kinky was Modest Mouse.  Modest Mouse had a v. big following in the audience, so many people were standing up, including the people in front of me.  Thus, I couldn't see the band, so spent the time people-watching.  KT gave me a piece of paper from her notebook, so I wrote short notes to myself so I would remember.

The teenage girl a few rows in front of me and to the right, mouthing all the words to the songs.  Her curly-haired male friend with a backpack.  Two guy standing in identical poses in front of me, with their arms crossed.  The loud guy behind me yelling things like, "WE FUCKING LOVE YOU, ISAAC!" and "THANKS FOR PLAYING PHILLY!" and "ONE MORE!" when MM was winding down.  The couple in front of me whispering in each other's ears and kissing.  The tall girl with short, curly, blonde hair who reminded me of <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~automobile" target="_blank">Car</a>.  The teenage boy in the front on my left, crazily bobbing his head in time to the music.  The woman with her blonde hair in a high bun, a plaid shirt, a denim skirt, and school teacher glasses, dancing like nobody's business.  The kid in a black hoodie thrusting his right hand towards the stage [\m/] as he sang along.  A cute guy who looked like a cross between Will Ross [boy in my class] and Mr Kleba, staring at the stage with a blank expression on his face.  I had him pegged a the shy, silent type, but revised my opinion as I saw him boogying on down later in the night when his friend with a white-person Afro joined him.

After Modest Mouse finished, KT, Marisa, and I decided to take a trip to the snack bar.  I had forty dollars with me, but it was the forty dollars I owed Marisa for my ticket.  Marisa kindly said that I could use it to buy stuff if I wanted and pay her back later, so I got a Dove bar.  Also, as we made the trip from our seats to the concession stand, I definitely saw a guy from my class, Gavin Landesberg [I'm not sure if that's how you spell his last name].  Marisa said that Toni Hellman was there too, but I didn't see her.

When we came back with my Dove bar, KT's pretzel braid and bottle of water, and Marisa's soda and M&M's, the Hackensaw Boys had taken the stage.  They were a bunch of guys from Virginia whose music had a country kind of sound.  Needless to say, KT felt right at home.  :D  We had hardly sat down, though, before they left and the next group came out on stage.

De La Soul.  Basically three black guys rapping [later four guys rapping, they had a guest called <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=black+sheep+dres" target="_blank">Dres</a> or something], but they were lots of fun.  Over the night I went from sitting in my seat, tapping my foot to the music to standing up, waving my hands in the ay-ir, shaking my booty like I just don't cay-re, and De La Soul helped a lot in this transformation.  Being called a "lazy motherfucker" is enough to make anyone get out of their seat and dance, I would think.  ;D  So they were cool, and very into audience-participation.  <3

After De La Soul was Flaming Lips.  They were mad crazy and just a bit gimmicky.  Fake blood, dancing animals, coloured smoke, balls filled with confetti [one of which popped right near me, showering me with little round pieces of paper], and a screen behind them playing some crazy clips.  At one point, there were a bunch of Japanese school girls who went after each other with guns.  Later there was the same five seconds or so of a naked woman throwing a frisbee looped over and over and over and over.  And remember how the couple next to me where Flaming Lips fans?  Well, at some point in the evening they had switched seats, so the guy was standing next to me shouting the lyrics to his favourite songs.  But not in an obnoxious way.  He was a cool kid.  During Modest Mouse, when everyone else was chanting "ISAAC ROCKS!", he was saying things like "Get off the stage, Isaac," and I grinned at him and he smiled back.  <3  That was fun.

So anyway.  Flaming Lips went on and on and on, and I was definitely ready for Cake.  But before Cake came on stage, the Hackensaw Boys did their thing again.  However, I wasn't really paying attention to them because the guy and girl next to me had left after Flaming Lips and given their seats to a woman who strongly reminded me of Tori Amos for some reason and her drunk-seeming comrade.  This guy started talking to these four other guys sitting in the row in front of us about their t-shirts and the word patina and he was q. insane.  I just sat there next to him, grinning madly at the girl he was with and the guys to whom he was talking, who were maybe college-aged and definitely thought he was crazy, but were egging him on, anyway.  Then the Hackensaw Boys left and Cake came on stage, so I stood up and forgot about the crazy guy.

Cake started with "Comfort Eagle," which kicked arse.  It's definitely so much more fun seeing a band live when you're familiar with all their songs.  So I was standing up and clapping my hands and shouting "DUDE!" when the song called for it and it was funfunfun.  Next they played "Sheep Go To Heaven," and everyone sang along at the end for "Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell!"  And then they played [in I forget what order], "Jesus Wrote A Blank Check," "Never There," "Love You Madly," "Mr. Mastodon Farm," "The Distance," "Stickshifts and Safetybelts," and "Nugget."  :D  KT, Marisa, and I were basically standing up, clapping, singing along, getting our groove on, and having fun x infinity the whole time.  Last they played "Short Skirt, Long Jacket," and had each side of the audience do the "na na na na na na" parts to see which side could sing it stronger, &c.  That was fun.  :D  Then they all walked off stage, but everyone just stood there clapping, so they came back out.  McCrea said the Mann Center had said they could play one more short song and made some joke about "The Man."  So they played "I Will Survive."  xD

And oh, my gawd, <a href="http://www.alternation.net/~cake/biography/" target="_blank">Xan McCurdy</a> is SO FUCKING HOT.  <333333

When Cake finally went off stage, I noticed that the guy was slumped over my seat.  o.O  So, we hopped over the seats in front of us so as to not have to go past him, and started walking towards the door.  Marisa wanted to buy a t-shirt, so we stopped for that.  And oh!  One of the guys from the Hackensaw Boys, I think, looked like Merry!  Well, KT said he looked like Merry, but I think she might have meant Pippin, 'cause he definitely looked more like Pippin.  And he was standing right by the t-shirt selling place, and we were going to go up to him and tell him so, but we resisted.  Also, at this point, we saw two security people dragging out drunk/stoned/something friend out.  

So we left the Mann Center and there were all these guys selling Unlimited Sunshine t-shirts for five dollars, so we each got one.  And we found my family's van immediately, but it appeared abandoned, so we just hung out there until we saw my dad walking towards us.  Apparently he had gotten there at like ten and snuck over to listen to the music.  Oh, and I gave Marisa the thirty dollars I had left over and told her I owed her ten still and she said thirty was fine, I could keep the ten as payment for me hosting <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">her</a>.  So isn't she sweet?  <3333

At this point it was like 11:45.  My dad drove us all home, and I got home at like 12:30, at which point I blogged briefly, and then stumbled into bed.

I am SO tired, still.  Even though I slept until past noon today.  -_-;;  And my throat is so sore.  I woke up in the middle of a dream this morning 'cause it hurt so much.  Stumbled to the kitchen, had a tall glass of water, stumbled back to bed.

If you read this whole thing, thank you, I fucking love you.  \m/  If you didn't, that's okay, too.  It's mainly for me so I can relive the night whenever I feel like it.  >D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/23/2002 12:31:00 AM
-----
BODY:
WHOOOOOOOOOOO!  SO TIRED AND EXTREMELY HOARSE. CONCERT FUCKING ROCKED.  FUN X INFINITY.  POST DETAILS TOMORROW.  <3  \m/
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/22/2002 11:48:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Was up late last night reading <a href="http://www.unamerican.com/truth/index.htm" target="_blank">this</a>.  I don't know.  I kind of got the impression that the guy thinks he's the next Jesus or whatever, but you know, there ain't nothing wrong with that.  I wouldn't say no to being Jesus.  I mean, Jesus got a pretty sweet deal.  He's been dead for a couple thousand [ish] years, and he's still got people considering what he might do in a situation before they act.  Or at least wearing bracelets to remind them that they should be considering what he might do in a situation.  Is that not cizzool or what?

So, anyway.  I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with what this guy's saying [I haven't even read the whole thing; I have a v. short attention span], but it makes me think and I like that.

"People with baseball bats aimed at my head can fuck off. I don't give a SHIT if i die, and especially once this book is published (even if it's just a couple copies!) i am going to have a sort of spiritual life insurance. 

"This spiritual life insurance concept is SUPER IMPORTANT. Think about it. You want a HOLE to be left by your absence, and the only way to leave one is to DIG ONE. Get fucking started, RIGHT NOW SOLDIER!!!"

I really like that.  A few nights ago I had a dream in which I had cancer or some other such wasting disease and I remember in the dream I wanted to blog before I died.  Like, last thoughts and goodbyes.  Because once you're gone, you're gone.  And what's gone is your brain, your ideas, every thought you've ever thought.  So you want to write them down while you can so they last forever.

Along these lines is that Edward da Vere <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/70/50018.html" target="_blank">sonnet</a>.  [My mum paid me to write that.  ;D  Down with Will Chexper!]

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,   
  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Words last longer than people and all that.   So yizzeah.  

In non-wannabe-philosophical news, CAKE CONCERT TONIGHT!!!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/21/2002 10:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
SkiDiva2001: &lt;us3
alm ed a STAR: &lt;us3 x infinity
SkiDiva2001: HA!
SkiDiva2001: ube  rk azo o: x infinity
ube  rk azo o: XD
SkiDiva2001: There are like eight uberkates.
alm ed a STAR: :D
SkiDiva2001: And we all talk the same.
alm ed a STAR: I'm building a religion.
SkiDiva2001: You are.
SkiDiva2001: Where we are all named some version of Katherine.
alm ed a STAR: :D
SkiDiva2001: I want to be Kathryn.
SkiDiva2001: Like CAPN JANEWAY QUEEN OF THE FEDERATION 
alm ed a STAR: I would rather be Kathryn than Katherine.
alm ed a STAR: HAAAAAAAA.
SkiDiva2001: XD
SkiDiva2001: I actually just like that name.
alm ed a STAR: Me too.
alm ed a STAR: It's all medieval-y and stuff.
SkiDiva2001: Too bad, you are the Queen Katherine.
alm ed a STAR: Blah.
alm ed a STAR: Stupid parents.
SkiDiva2001: Bed?
alm ed a STAR: We are building a religion
We are building it bigger
alm ed a STAR: No, name.
alm ed a STAR: We are widening the corridors 
And adding more lanes
alm ed a STAR: We are building a religion
A limited edition
We are now accepting callers
For the pendant key chains
SkiDiva2001: XD
alm ed a STAR: To resist it is useless 
It is useless to resist it
SkiDiva2001: Is that Cake?
alm ed a STAR: ~ Cake.
alm ed a STAR: Q.
SkiDiva2001: PSYCHIC
alm ed a STAR: :DDDDDDDDDDD
SkiDiva2001: Colin is Kathieye.
alm ed a STAR: :D
alm ed a STAR: That's the worst thing I've ever seen.
SkiDiva2001: You have to talk to all the Britons.
alm ed a STAR: Oh, I will.
SkiDiva2001: So far we have Katherine, Kathryn, and Kathieye.
alm ed a STAR: :D

Everyone convert to my cult!

Also, buy me clever-sloganned t-shirts from <a href="http://www.unamerican.com/catalog/index.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.  &lt;Not For Sale3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/21/2002 07:37:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Found some ______ [please select favourable adjective: interesting fun exciting cool intriguing] links from <a href="http://blotts.org" target="_blank">Maddy's</a> AIM profile.

1.  <a href="http://www.adbusters.org/" target="_blank">Adbusters</a>.  Check out "Buy Nothing Day" [under campaigns] and the spoof ads.  Fun stuff.

2.  <a href="http://www.obeygiant.com" target="_blank">Obey Giant</a>.  This smacks of grooviness, but I do wish they had an "about us" section or something just to explain what exactly is gizzoing on here.

3.  <a href="http://www.unamerican.com" target="_blank">Unamerican</a>.  Just all-around really cool.

"it's all right, 'coz the historical pattern has shown
how the economical cycle tends to re-evolve
in a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop
slump, then war, then peel back to stage one and back for more

bigger slump, then a bigger war, then a smaller recovery
huger slump, then bigger war, then a shallower recovery
don't worry, be happy - things will get better naturally
don't worry - shut up, sit down; go with it and be happy" 

- stereolab

So.  Maddy is q. binty.  [As opposed to <a href="http://imprisoned.org" target="_blank">Colin</a>, who is the anti-bint; <a href="http://amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</a>, who is the devil in disguise; and <a href="http://ensnared.org" target="_blank">Beki</a>, who is a loser-bint.org.]  Imma be her when I grow up.  ^_^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/21/2002 05:12:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Miscellaneous updates.

Schedule-wise, I've learnt that Adrienne is in my math class [w00t!] and I have English and chem with Patty.  Justin has world civ. and lunch on Mondays with me.  Cathy has gym and lunch on Mondays with me.  =D  Also, @my-the-junior has lunch sixth period as well.  [But she's probably too cool to sit with me.  ;D]

Domain-wise, I think I've narrowed it down to nighean-donn.org, bintylicious.org, whingey-bint.org, and pseudo-brit.org.

Concert-wise, Unlimited Sunshine tomorrow!!!  Squee!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/21/2002 02:53:00 PM
-----
BODY:
SCHEDULE!  AIEEEEEE!!!!!!

1:  English with James Lodewick in 233A
2:  world civ. with Jaime Farrington in S111
3:  Latin with Thomas Kummer in 155 on MTR;  academic access with Connie Remar in 163 on W;  academic access with Michael Beagle in 159 on F
4:  art with Nicole Caracciolo in 119
5:  chem with Bradley Palmer in 129
6:  lunch on MF; pe with Helen White TR; chem W
7:  algebra with John Kusner in 211
8:  German with Frauie in 253

AAAAAAH!  So, I've got English and German, of course, with Becky Kauffman, and Rebecca D'Orazio, Amy Alexander, and ALLISON (!!!!!!) are in my algebra class!  GO TEEEEEEAM!  Also, Neil has art with me, not surprisingly.  Whee.  

Oh, and academic access is this incredibly stupid, pointless class about how to take tests or some shizznit.  Ew.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/21/2002 11:46:00 AM
-----
BODY:
I watched <i>Run, Lola, Run</i> last night.  It was q. cool.  That Lola was one crazy bitch, though.  In a good way, of course.  &lt;Germans3

Also, my uterus decided to begin its monthly tendency to expel its lining to let me know that I am not pregnant and to remind me of my burgeoning womynhood.  Silly uterus.  If I were it, I would maybe give a few warning drops, then woosh! and expel my entire lining at once, to get it over with, instead of dragging out the whole process over days and days.  It would be much more convenient.

In other news, my schedule better come today.  Or else.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/20/2002 07:22:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Whether or not I'm going to go with the free-domain-registration-by-Sept.-1 offer, I don't know, but I do know that when ub.org expires, I'd like a new domain name.

Some ones I'm considering:

ailurophile.org
angsty-teen.org *
atychiphobe.org
feminista.org
heterowomyn.org 
hopeless-procrastinator.org 
miniplenty.org 
minitr00.org
pseudo-brit.org 
quasi-brit.org
rara-avis.org *
nighean-donn.org *
undistressed-damsel.org
bintylicious.org *
american-bint.org
angsty-bint.org 
feminist-bint.org
loquacious-bint.org
obstinate-bint.org    
opinionated-bint.org
plastic-bint.org
quixotic-bint.org *
sarcastic-bint.org *
slytherin-bint.org
surly-bint.org
teenage-bint.org 
vegetarian-bint.org
watery-bint.org
whingey-bint.org *

The asterisk denotes the ones I like especially much.  Yes, I definitely want a .org, and I think hyphens are cool.  Bint is a r0x0r word, also.  Nighean donn is Gaelic for brown-haired girl, and I definitely am digging that.  So feel free to lay your opinion down on me.  Make your own suggestions.

I was looking at <a href="http://www.pantheon.org" target="_blank">pantheon.org</A> for mythological names, but couldn't find anything that particularly struck me.  Also scoured dictionary.com's words of the day.  Big words = fun.

Off to the pool.  Pip-pip!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/20/2002 02:52:00 PM
-----
BODY:
will IS happy 01: hey kate
will IS happy 01: did you get your schedule?
alm ED a ST ar: Nope.
alm ED a ST ar: Did you?
will IS happy 01: yupper
alm ED a ST ar: WHAT?!
alm ED a ST ar: Aieeeeeeee!
alm ED a ST ar: *runs to check the mail*
alm ED a ST ar: Will Bruce, why do you have your schedule before me?
will IS happy 01: hahahahhaha
will IS happy 01: cause you see, will bruce is an unaturally special dude
alm ED a ST ar: Unlike the quite soundly unspecial Kate.
alm ED a ST ar: Who has been checking the mail like every five minutes.
alm ED a ST ar: For the past week.

Allicat704: mailman mailman do your duty
Allicat704: OH MY GOD
Allicat704: MAGGIE GOT HER SCHEDULE
alm ED a ST ar: SO DID WILL BRUCE
Allicat704: WHY DO THEY HATE US?!?!?!?!?!?!
alm ED a ST ar: I DON't KNOW
alm ED a ST ar: BUT IT MAKES ME SAD
Allicat704: AHHHHH
Allicat704: i can't believe this
alm ED a ST ar: Me either.
Allicat704: laura workman got her's
alm ED a ST ar: Maybe they just hate Ardsley.
Allicat704: this is discrimination i tell you
alm ED a ST ar: It is!

Well, on the bright side, maybe we'll get our schedules tomorrow.  Will Bruce says German's eleventh period.  [There's only one German class because only the cool kids take German, so, as you might imagine, our numbers are q. limited.]  Also, he says they list the teachers on the schedule, which is totally r0x0r.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/20/2002 11:02:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Here is a silly thing:  my layout from May 15 to May 22 which was blue and had a girl with a backpack and the title "no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks" was not in my <a href="?src=layouts.html">layout archives</a> until today.  It was just not there.  So I added it, and then I had to change the version number of each layout afterward.  So the current layout is really version 19, not 18.

Also, no sign of the schedules.  I've heard whisperings that we don't get our schedules until the first day of school, but I find that highly unlikely.  And even so, they have to send us a packet of information anyway, right?  Well, where is it?  There are only two weeks left 'til school starts.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/20/2002 08:57:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Woken this morning by obnoxious, prepubescent screams of brother's friend.  They were playing a video game and getting way too into it.  "Ganondorf 0wnz j00!"  "Bow to King Kirby!"  "All hail Pikachu, God of Thunder!"

Erlack.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/19/2002 12:00:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Unburdened.org expires December 12.  I'm not sure if I'm going to reregister it or register a new domain name.  I was talking to <a href="http://ensnared.org" target="_blank">Beki</a>, who is planning to register a new name this September and she got me thinking.  I'm fond of unburdened.org, but not wild about it.  Change is always good.  But of course, I have to think of my hostees and everyone would have to update their links and it would be a lot of trouble.

Hm.  I was thinking of a domain name with "womyn" in it because I loff that word and I moused over a link last night and I thought it said englishwomyn.org and I was like, Hey, that's really cool.  But it was <a href="http://www.englishsun.org" target="_blank">englishsun.org</a>, which isn't quite as special.  But womyn is kind of lesbish, and I'm not a lesbian, so I probably wouldn't get a domain name with womyn in it.  Hm.

I have until December, except the hosting place I'd really like to sign up with is offering free domain registration until September 1.  So decisions, decisions.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/18/2002 12:56:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<i><a href="http://www.blue-crush.com" target="_blank">Blue Crush</a></i> was okay.  As my mother would say, the "romance was unresolved."  Which was a shame.  But the surfing was cool.  Go team girl power!

We also saw <i>Goldmember</i> because the movie theatre was air-conditioned and my mum hadn't seen it.  She was, not surprisingly, not v. impressed.  I thought it was better the first time.  Not really a movie you need to see twice.

And then last night we went to the pool, which was absolutely lovely.  Night swimming is the bizzest.

Tee.  I changed my desktop scheme to pink!  It's so lurvely.  <3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/17/2002 02:16:00 PM
-----
BODY:
In non-dream-related news, I finished <i>Witch Child</i>, and Britney was right in that it wasn't bad, but <i>The Raging Quiet</i> was better.  Also, new layout, as the more perceptive of you will have noticed.  Almeda's always reaching new levels of self-love, baby.  <3

I downloaded Winamp 3, and Blogamp doesn't work with it, so bye to Blogamp.  It was fun while it lasted.  ^^

Also, our stupid school schedules still haven't arrived and probably never will.  I guess high school is cancelled.

Going to see <i>Blue Crush</i> today.  Go team!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/17/2002 02:01:00 PM
-----
BODY:
When I woke up this morning, I remembered more of my dream than I usually do, so I decided I would record it.  I was going to write it down, but I type so much faster than I can write [and it's neater too], so I decided to just type it up.  And where better to type it up, I ask, than in my blog?  So, here it goes.

I don't really remember the first part, except that I'm pretty sure it involved Hitler and me murdering someone.

Cut to a wedding.  My wedding.  I, as well as a bunch of women in dresses and the groom, am standing in the back of what is probably a church.  There have been no rehearsals for this wedding because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.  I'm about to just go for it and walk up the aisle, but then one of the women in dresses starts to go, so I think, <i>Oh, that must be a bridesmaid</i>.  While I wait for the bridesmaids and flower girls and those sort of people to walk to the front, some lady in a tight dress with a crazy headpiece that is huge and resembles a canopy bed or something because it has four blue legs and blue curtains comes over to me and tells me I should wear that instead of the traditional white wedding gown I currently am wearing.  I refuse, at which point she says, "Well, at least wear the hat."  So she sticks the gigantic thing on my head, but I take it off.  Then I turn to the groom and ask him why he isn't at the front of the church like he's supposed to be.  So he starts to walk up the aisle and when
he gets to the very front, I start.  

Though I'm not wearing the ridiculous blue headpiece anymore, I do have some weird white wreath-y type thing on my head and it only stays on if I hold it with both hands.  I also have a sneaking suspicion that I am walking on my knees.  So everyone is cooing and doing the traditional "Ooh, there's the bride, isn't she lovely?" thang and I am just not enjoying it at all because for some reason I don't want to get married.  I think I might have wanted to marry someone else.  Not sure.

Anyway, as I get to the front, some woman with a camera takes my picture and I felt really foolish, holding my hat on my head with two hands and I definitely didn't want her to take a picture.  I finally get to the front and there is the groom.  We stand there kind of awkwardly until my dad comes up, wearing only boxer shorts & embarrassing me greatly.  Apparently he is the preacher-type person.  So he asks something to the groom.  I don't really remember what he said, but it was definitely not the traditional "Do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, &c."  Then I think he's about to ask me and I get all nervous because I don't know what to do and I don't want to get married to this guy, but don't worry, he has another question to ask the groom.

At this point, I'm not sure what happened.  For whatever reason, G. [I'm sick of calling him "the groom"] was gone and I was standing up there by myself.  I stand up and turn to face the audience, ready to start yelling.  People in the audience stand up, I remember one woman in particular standing up, and then my mother calls "Take it down a notch" or something at me.  So instead of being all angry, I start crying.  The audience think it's because the groom left, but I have no idea why I'm crying.

Cut to me running through a parking lot filled with cars.  I run down a grassy slope and find myself in a field.  I want to throw myself down on the ground, but I'm worried I'll get grass stains on my dress.  Then I remember it's just a dream, so I kneel down and cry.  And cry.  And it was cold, so I remember being grateful my dress had long sleeves.  I keep crying, hoping someone will come and get me.  Then G. and his friends come.  He's taken off his jacket, so I see his bare arms and I remember they were quite muscular.  I sit up.  One of his friends is sitting in front of me.  He asks me why I left.  Actually, I don't really remember what he asked, but it was definitely an accusation.  And he throws handfuls of grass at me.  I throw the grass back and tell him that throwing grass at me won't help the situation.  At this, G. laughs.  Apparently, he was amused that his best friend and bride were so much alike, or some such nonsense.  I don't know.  Maybe in my dreamworld, throwing clumps of grass at each other is enough to make two people practically clones.

Anyway.  At this point, I go over and lay on top of G. in my poofy white gown, who knows why. I guess subtlety isn't my strong point.  I curl up in his muscular arms, 'cause it's so cold, remember, and I decide that maybe I'd like to marry him, after all.  But then, for some reason, we can't get married.  I remember being confused 'cause it made no sense whatsoever.  He had to want to marry me, why else would we be getting married in the first place if neither of us wanted to?  But anyway, dreams are tricky like that.

I forget what happened next, but somehow I was at a restaurant eating dinner with at least fifteen other people.  Mostly girls.  I think Jess Noga and Becky Garcia-Gordon [girls from my school with whom I'm not friends] were there.  When we finish, the bill is huge.  I go around to everyone asking for money, because on the bill it has how much each person's meal cost.  Mine was $16, and I'm pretty sure I was charged for ice, too.  What the frack?  But, anyway.  That part was definitely nightmarish.  I woke up before I finished getting all the money together.

Now I'm thinking the part about Hitler was inspired by <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~runanastasia" target="_blank">Red</a>.  The whole wedding this was probably because I watched <i>The Princess Bride</i> a couple days ago.  And that's all I can figure out.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/16/2002 06:19:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to the library, pool today.  Nothing special.  Wish I had gotten some books out from the library instead of just sitting there reading for an hour.  I want some more Wodehouse and I want to reread <i>His Dark Materials</i> because I haven't read them in ages and <a href="http://www.imprisoned.org" target="_blank">Cols</a> has been gushing about them and linking me to Philip Pullman interviews, so I've got them on the brain.  w00t.

Also, if our schedules do not come tomorrow, I will most likely explode.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/16/2002 12:12:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Here is a good quote:  

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
-Buddha (c. 566-480 BCE) 

Here is what my mother is not good at:

Buying ice cream.  

Here is what we currently have in our freezer:

.5 gallon Mocha Fudge <b>Almond</b>
.5 gal. <b>Pecan </b>Praline Sundae
.5 gal. Chocolate Truffles
1 pint Chocolate <b>Almond</b> Bar
1 p. Vanilla with Chocolate Caramel Hearts
1 p. Vanilla Caramel <b>Pecan</b>
1 p. <b>Cashew</b> Praline Parfait

Notice how five out of the seven flavours have nuts in them?  Well, I really don't like nuts in my ice cream.  So, ick.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/15/2002 09:01:00 PM
-----
BODY:
My uncle took me to <a href="http://www.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions/amsub.shtml" target="_blank">P<i>a</i>fA</a> today, which was q. enjoyable.  He is better than a tour guide because he is a professor at <a href="http://www.williams.edu" target="_blank">Williams</a> and is q. knowledgeable in art-related matters.  Also k. in Frank Furness-related matters, which was e. lovely because the Academy building was designed by him [F.F., not uncle].  After the museum, we went to my dad's office so I could take the train home with my daddy, and my daddy works at <a href="http://upenn.edu" target="_blank">Penn</a>, so we stopped at the Penn library, which was also designed by Frank Furness.  It was q. a lovely building.  It really is too bad that old F.F. is dead because it would have been nice to have him design a house for one.  If one were rich and had plenty of money to pay to people for things such as designing custom homes, that is.

I finished <i>Code of the Woosters</i> today.  Genius, thy name is Wodehouse.  How I do love him.  Best.  Author.  Ever.  &c.  Too bad he's dead as well.  All the good people are dead.  With the exception of me, of course.  Yes, well.  I'm off.  Pip-pip!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/15/2002 05:19:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Tee.  I'm at Daddy's work.  The keyboard here is so type-y!  Click clack click clack.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/15/2002 10:16:00 AM
-----
BODY:
<a href="http://www.ensnared.org" target="_blank">Beki</a> has the grooviest layout ever.  :D
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/15/2002 09:53:00 AM
-----
BODY:
My aunt and my pseudo-aunt who isn't really an aunt but is pretty much one plus me, Nora, and my mum went to the Phillies game last night.  The Phillies won, surprisingly, 4-1.  But what I found more interesting was the slightly cute sk8er boi [omg, lick avril lavigne iz soooooo totaly hardk0r punk!!!1] sitting in front of us with blue hair, a pierced eyebrow, and a Vans visor that said "visors suck" on it for some unfathomable reason.  Whee.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/14/2002 12:23:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<i>'cause I wanted to fly / so you gave me your wings</i>

I heart Michelle Branch.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/14/2002 11:21:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Went to the pool with my family sans vater and to <i>Guys & Dolls</i> with my mum and my mum's friend last night.  <i>Guys & Dolls</i> wasn't bad for a show starring young children.  ^^;  During the intermission I talked with my mum's friend about high school.  [Her older son graduated this year, I think.]  So now I'm all ready and the schedules should definitely come.

Afterwards I ran into <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> there.  I was semi-surprised because I hadn't been sure if she was going last night or today because I don't really listen when people talk to me.  So if you're ever trying to convey some crucial bit of information, repeat it at least five times.  I also saw Judith, who is a year younger than me and whom I know from Drood.  She was there with all her little freshmen-to-be friends and she introduced them to me.  One of them was the son of my mother's friend and he was all, "Oh, I already know [Almeda]."  And that made me feel special because the little kiddies think they're cool because they know someone a year older than them.  Hee.  Go team.

And then I was looking at some womyn talking to the son of one of my mum's other friends and I thought I recognised her from somewhere.  First I thought she was my English teacher from eighth grade, but when she spoke I was like, Oh!  Mrs Sterner-Porecca!  And then she saw me and was like, "Is that [Almeda]?"  And I was like, gaspshock!  'cause I tend to think of myself as invisible and that no one would ever remember/recognise me.  Low self-esteem issues, you see.  But she did remember & recognise me, so I was like, "Hi!  How are you?  Good to see you!" et cetera.

So, that was fun.  Going to the <a href="http://www.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions/amsub.shtml" target="_blank">academy of fine arts</a> with my uncle tomorrow afternoon.  He said I could bring my friends along, so if anyone wants to go. . .  I got da hookup, y0.

Oh, and <a href="http://www.imprisoned.org" target="_blank">Cols</a> has a new layout.  ^_^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/13/2002 04:59:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Babies are 100% bad n00z.  First she tried to eat a plant and then she wouldn't stop crying unless I held her and walked around in circles, which, needless to say, was exceedingly boring.  But twenty-five dollars, y0.  [Unlike <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~neverwonder" target="_blank">some</a> people, my dad doesn't arbitrarily throw me $100.]

&it's really hot.  &I think I'm going to the pool.  Or perhaps to see a production of <i>Guys & Dolls</i>.  <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Her</a> cousin or something is in it and so is Rebecca D'Orazio's little sister.  Go team.

Ooh, and a postcard from <a href="http://dinbo.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Cathy</a> came today!  But no schedule.  ;-;
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/13/2002 10:08:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Fhqwhgads. I am about 100% tired.  Woke up at the ungodly hour of 8:15 this morning.  Had a bowl of Trix, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned up Malvolio's chunder with a paper towel.  Cats are so heartless.  He intentionally started puking while I was eating breakfast to put me off my food, I'm sure of it.

Do you know what is silly?  In summer, I sleep until noon, missing five hours of sunlight.  In winter, I have to get up before the sun has even risen!  Maybe I should have to get up early when the sun is up early and sleep till noon in winter.  That would make much more sense, I think.

Mother's helpering today. Tra la la.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/12/2002 08:28:00 PM
-----
BODY:
D00d, found this link in my referrals: 

<a href="http://delphi:@www.e-starr.net:2095/delphi+disheartened.net/neomail.pl?sessionid=disheart-session-0.0169196422948552&firstmessage=1&sort=date&folder=INBOX&action=readmessage&message_id=f07ff6929c9114ed1baa6cb7428fd623">http://delphi:@www.e-starr.net:
2095/delphi+disheartened.net/neomail.pl?
sessionid=disheart-session-0.016919642
2948552&firstmessage=1&sort=date&folder=
INBOX&action=readmessage&message_id=
f07ff6929c9114ed1baa6cb7428fd623</a>

I'm guessing it's someone's e-mail thingummy.  So my curiosity is quite piqued.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/12/2002 11:40:00 AM
-----
BODY:
In entertainment news. . . last night I watched <I>The Age of Innocence</i>, which was fairly enjoyable, but left me a bit unsure of what message I was supposed to take away from the movie.  Winona Ryder was really pretty and q. perfect for her part.  Daniel Day-Lewis was a wuss.  And now I'm going to read the book, whee.  But first I have to finish <i>House of Mirth</i>.

A couple nights ago I watched the Ethan Hawke version of <i>Hamlet</i>.  It was kind of eh and I was tired, so I went to bed after Hamlet killed Polonius.  A couple nights before that, I saw <i>The Usual Suspects</i>.  I was not impressed by it until the end, at which point I was like, hey, that's kind of cool.  La.

Sometime between all my movie watching, I read <i>Beware, Princess Elizabeth</i>, which I think I would have liked more had I read it when I was younger.  I enjoyed it, though.  That period of her life is probably the period I've read least about.  So, yay.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/11/2002 08:11:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Art museum was fun, as art museums generally are.  I think everyone should visit art museums more often.  It should be mandatory if you read a lot of magazines with anorexic-looking models in it.  I &lt;3 how all the womyn in paintings from the Renaissance are zaftig.  It amuses me how society's beauty ideals change so quickly. 

So, anyway.  My family sans vater met my uncle there and afterwards we had Chinese food in Chinatown, mmm.  Fortune:  You will lead others back into the fold.

Made tentative plans with uncle to go to the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and see <a href="http://www.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions/amsub.shtml" target="_blank">this exhibit</a> on Wednesday.  Yay.  =)

Also, I added <a href="http://www.geocities.com/insanitydrops/blogamp/" target="_blank">BlogAmp</a> to the sidebar, which shows the last six songs I've listened to on Winamp.  Go team!
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/11/2002 12:30:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I took my schedule off the sidebar because it's summer and nothing was really happening, but now I've got dates to look forward to [O Gods of Grammar, please forgive me for ending that with a preposition], so I'm just going to put this here for myself.  Because I like organisation, you see.

<b>13</b>  Mother's-helpering for <a href="http://photobyrebecca.com/" target="_blank">Becky</a>.
<b>17</b>  School schedules came last year on the seventeenth, so perhaps they'll come the same day this year.  Hopefully earlier, though.  I want my schedule!
<b>22</b>  CAKE CONCERT!
<b>28</b>  Abbey's birthday.  Squee!  <Abbey3
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/11/2002 12:04:00 PM
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BODY:
Going to the art museum today!  Tra la la.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/10/2002 11:23:00 PM
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BODY:
Teehee.  I'm working on a secret project.  >D  
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/09/2002 05:09:00 PM
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BODY:
W00t, the womyn I mother's-helped [the verb form for "to be a mother's helper," of course] called me to ask if I could do it again next Tuesday.  This makes me feel especially silly because when I left the other day I was feeling all low-self-esteemy as I am wont to do and thought she hated me and/or thought I was the worst babysitter ever.  I'm not sure why I thought this, but I'm sure my train of logic was v. flawed, as why would she call again if she thought I sucked?  Q.E.D.

So, anyway, that makes my heart sing.  Especially because it means I will get more money.  >D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/09/2002 02:59:00 PM
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BODY:
Um.  My dad has <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/shinglesherpeszoster.html">shingles</a>.  Which is really weird because it's most common in people over 50.  My dad's 43.  So, yeah.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/09/2002 10:53:00 AM
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BODY:
I want to do something today, if just so I have something to write about other than websites I've visited.

I was talking to Sienna on Wednesday and she was whinging about how bored she was and how no one was home and everyone was busy, so I asked her if she was doing anything tomorrow.  Yes, actually I am, she said, but I'm free Friday.  Great, me too, I said.  Okay, let's do something, she said.  Call me tomorrow.  Then we exchanged numbers.  But I didn't call her and she didn't call me.

Yesterday Marisa asked me if I was free tomorrow [i.e., today], and I said I guess.

So we'll see what happens.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/08/2002 05:36:00 PM
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BODY:
My day was pretty boring [although we did have basic <a href="http://www.comcast.net/" target="_blank">cable</a> installed. . . my mum finally gave in when it became cheaper to pay for Internet access and cable TV than just Internet access], so the rest of this post will be largely plugs.

My own dear hostee <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> has an Aragorn layout up!  Go team!  Talking of which, did you know <a href="http://www.theonering.net/movie/cast/mortensen.html" target="_blank">Viggo Mortensen</a> was born in the same year as my MOTHER?  That's just scary, baby.  I really should get over my lusting-after-extremely-older-men thing.

<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/or/copper1167/" target="_blank">She</a> makes me feel special inside by linking to me with the following comment: "Lots of great art, and a few good pieces of writing as well."  She's also cool because she likes <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Rene+Magritte+" target="_blank">René Magritte</a>, on whom I did a report in sixth grade.

Today I discovered <a href="http://www.globeofblogs.com/" target="_blank">Globe of Blogs</a> [through <a href="http://geocities.com/ungratefulbwitches/" target="_blank">Ungrateful Bwitches</a> through <a href="http://blogsnob.idya.net" target="_blank">Blogsnob</a>], which is a lot of fun.

<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/raretune/" target="_blank">Charity</a> and <A href="http://www.flaviadurante.com/blog/" target="_blank">Flávia Durante</a> have the same birthday as I do, although both are considerably older.

<a href="http://33flavors.org/" target="_blank">Heidi</a>, <a href="http://www.abnormalcy.com/~anarchy/" target="_blank">Jay</a>, and <a href="http://strangecraft.diary-x.com/" target="_blank">Nicole</a> are all Philadelphians.  [Globe of Blogs actually lists <a href="http://www.globeofblogs.com/location.php?country=237&page=2" target="_blank">six more people</a> who live in Philadelphia, but I didn't notice them until later because they were on the second page.]

And <a href="http://www.quixotical.org/" target="_blank">she</a> has my domain!  [And by "my domain," I mean "the domain name I would have chosen had it not already been taken."]  But I forgive her because she's a feminist and a vegetarian, I think.  If a person links to <a href="http://www.thevegetariansite.com/index.htm" target="_blank">The Vegetarian Site</a>, can one safely assume that she is vegetarian?  Either way, she is uber groovy.

Also, <a href="http://www.blogtree.com/" target="_blank">BlogTree</a> is really cool, but it's been so long and my memory's so poor that I have no idea who might have inspired me to create a blog.  Spontaneous generation, I suppose.  ;D

So now I'm all inspired and in the mood to design a new layout.  But I just put this one up and I'm rather attached to it, so I don't want to see it go.  Inner turmoil, rah.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/08/2002 12:36:00 PM
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BODY:
I read <i>The Raging Quiet</i> last night.  Loved it.  =)  

"This tale belongs to any time, even our own; it is about prejudice and ignorance, and a young woman wrongly accused, who is guilty of only one thing—the unforgivable crime of being different."  - Sherryl Jordan
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/07/2002 07:53:00 PM
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BODY:
Today is plug day.  Why?  Because I said so.

Two new hostees:  <a href="http://spectacular.unburdened.org" target="_blank">spectacular.unburdened.org</a> [a group blog named after the Moulin Rouge song] and <a href="http://soles.unburdened.org" target="_blank">soles.unburdened.org</a> [Abbey's website which I made myself so you should maybe probably absolutely go visit it, even though it's kind of sort of maybe a work in progress].

Also, I spent a lot of time making my <A href="http://www.unburdened.org/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi" target="_blank">guestbook</a> pretty, so you should definitely give it some love.  Plz?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/07/2002 11:34:00 AM
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BODY:
You should probably visit <a href="http://speechless.nu" target="_blank">Heather</a> and <a href="http://junkie.riddle.nu" target="_blank">Mimi</a> and <a href="http://www.spoinky.net/" target="_blank">Nina</a> because I don't think I ever plugged them for their new layouts.  Also, <a href="http://turn.speechless.nu" target="_blank">Deirdre's</a> back, baby.  And <a href="http://www.imprisoned.org" target="_blank">Colin</a> has a fairly new layout, which <a href="http://www.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">some</a> think looks like mine, but really it doesn't and it's cool.  <a href="Http://www.livejournal.com/~flourish" target="_blank">Maddy</a>'s just <a href="http://blotts.org" target="_blank">groovy</a>.  Yeah, baby, yeah!

I downloaded <a href="http://www.emsproject.com/FS/Support.htm" target="_blank">this</a>, which r0x.  It would r0x0r even more if I visited a lot of ezboards, because they sure do know how to smother a user with pop-ups!

I think I'm going to go read some of my new library books or watch my new LOTR DVD.  Peace.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/06/2002 08:37:00 PM
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BODY:
So I babysat for <a href="http://photobyrebecca.com/" target="_blank">this</a> woman today.  She was really cool [and vegetarian!] and the baby was sweet and I got 33 dollars out of it, so it's all good.

While I was gone, my heartless family bought the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003CWT6/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings DVD</a> and watched it and the special features without me.  Sniff.

But when my dad picked me up, he took me to the library and Dairy Queen and I got a Butterfinger Blizzard, so yum.

I took out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394720288/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Code of the Woosters</i></a> [&lt;P.G. Wodehouse3], <i>New York Novels</i> again [because I had to return it before I even finished <i>The House of Mirth</i>], <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689828772/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Raging Quiet</i></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0763618292/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Witch Child</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0152026592/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Beware, Princess Elizabeth</i></a> [to feed my Queen Elizabeth I addiction] from the library.  w00t for books.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/06/2002 12:23:00 PM
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BODY:
Mmm, I love cold fronts.

<a href="http://weatherpixie.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://weatherpixie.com/displayimg.php?place=KNXX&trooper=33&type=F" width=124 height=175 border=0 alt="The WeatherPixie"></a>

See?  No more weather in the 90s!  [You have no idea how long it took me to find that stupid weatherpixie site. . . I searched on google for like ten minutes and no luck.  Then I asked <A href="http://lulu.reflectedshadow.net/blog/" target="_blank">Andy</a> and <a href="http://blog.yousei-ziploc.com/" target="_blank">Yousei</a>, who both had no idea what I was talking about.  Fortunately, then <a href="http://www.extinguished.org/britney/" target="_blank">Britney</a> got on and she gave me the link to <a href="http://www.aquatique.net" target="_blank">aquatique.net</a>, who has a weather pixie.]

Hrm, I should probably go take a shower and get ready to be a "mother's helper"!  Go team.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/05/2002 10:06:00 PM
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BODY:
Today I made Abbey a site [go team!], but she is too lazy to blog and fill out her bio and everything, so I guess you'll just have to wait till she gets her losery act together to see the fruits of my labour.  [I don't want y'all trampling about until the site is ready for visitors. I'm sure you understand.]

Then I went to the pool, which is one of best things in the world, though not quite as good as ice cream because ice cream doesn't have chlorine.  Swimming is q. relaxing, and you get exercise too!  Plus, it cools you down if it's really HOT and you have no AIR CONDITIONING.  Magic.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/05/2002 10:22:00 AM
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BODY:
My mum rented <i><a href="http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Movies/Titles/S/Say_Anything/" target="_blank">Say Anything</a></i>, so we watched that last night.  Let me just say that I'm so glad I wasn't old enough to pick out my own clothes in the 80s.  Okay, so I wore leggings through much of elementary school, but at least I didn't do anything crazy with my hair.  Well, except for that ridiculous yellow bow that I wore to Allison's party in second grade, but that was really just early evidence of my unique fashion sense.  Or something.  Go team!

Also, <a href="http://www.amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</a>, I've seen the light.  John Cusack is adorable.  <3  And yes, I know I can't see a movie without gushing about the cute young male star.  It's just that I am a teenage girl and see, I've got these raging hormones.  Estrogen and progesterone and wot.  And if I lived, well, a really long time ago I would probably be married now and pregnant, most likely not for the first time, you know.  [A useful tip for arguing: Say something almost completely unrelated to your point.  This will leave your opponent baffled.  While he's trying to figure out what on earth you could be talking about, hit him over the head with a shoe and run.  Alternatively, you could hit him over the with a shoe, take his wallet, and then run.]

Also, I'm proud of myself.  Even though I didn't fall asleep until like three in the morning [actually, I have no idea when I fell asleep, but I do know that it took a v. long time because I was all freaked out by <i>Signs</i> and I kept imagining an alien leaping through my window and harvesting me for food or whatever.  It's funny because I knew logically that the likelihood of that happening was about 0%, but my imagination just wouldn't let it go.  Stupid brain.], I got up at 9:00 this morning!  That's like the first time I've been conscious before noon all week!

Which is a good thing because I've got to be a "mother's helper" thingummy tomorrow.  <a href="http://www.indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Katie</a> usually does it, but she is in North Carolina or some such place with her church, so apparently she or her mother gave my phone number to the lady.  Blah.  I hope it's easy.  And I hope I only have to be there for an hour or so.  Does one get paid for this sort of thing?  Money is always fun.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/04/2002 06:12:00 PM
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BODY:
Just got back from seeing <i>Signs</i>.  Had to keep looking away from the screen to the audience to reassure myself that I was in a movie theatre and aliens weren't really invading.  [Oops, did I just spoil it?  Er, what I meant to say is that aliens don't invade.  There are no aliens in this movie.  It's just a thriller focusing on the mysterious appearance of crop circles carved into a family farm.  But no aliens are involved.]  

Anyway, I liked it.  It had a surprising amount of funny bits.  &lt;3 @ Joaquin Phoenix, and that little girl was so adorable!

Fun fact: my little brother and sister auditioned for the parts of the two kids in this movie.  You know, 'cause it was local and all.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/04/2002 01:21:00 PM
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BODY:
In the wee hours of the morning I was asleep in my bed, dreaming, when I heard vague yowls.  Eventually I became more and more aware that the yowling was not part of my dream and leaned over my bed to see two grey shadowy figures on opposite sides of my room hissing at each other.  "Shh," I told them and closed my eyes again.  

They did not "shh" because cats do not score very high on the malleability scale, so I got out of bed and realized that one of the grey shadows was actually that damn orange cat that belongs to the people across the street and enjoys sneaking into my house and tormenting my precious widdle babies.

First I tried to shoo him towards the doorway, but that didn't work because Malvolio was guarding it and he refused to budge.  I picked up Malvolio and put him on my bed, then cautiously made my way to the orange cat, who is called Jason.  He allowed me to pet him, so I took the chance to pick him up and carry him towards the door.  Unfortunately, he started wriggling around and I, afraid that he would claw my eyes out and I'd never see the light of day again, dropped him.  Malvolio leaped from the bed and followed us into the kitchen.  

Now Jason is crouched on the floor hissing at me whenever I take a step towards him and is blocking my path to the door.  After a few attempts, I manage to hop over Jason and open the door.  Fortunately, Jason requires no further invitation than that and bolts outside.

Never a dull moment when you've got cats.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/03/2002 11:51:00 PM
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BODY:
At 6 o'clock this evening, my ol' mater quoth to me:  I'm going to drop you off at the pool, and your father and I are going out for dinner.

So we three children go to the pool, and first I cunningly trick Colin into jumping into the pool and getting whistled at by the lifeguard because it's the special adult swim.  Actually, it wasn't intentional.  Trickiness just sort of flows from me like chocolate from a coke bottle, if that coke bottle were accidentally filled with chocolate syrup instead of coca-cola.

And then it began to thunder.  After every burst of thunder, it's thirty minutes until you're allowed back in the pool.  We decided it would be pointless to wait it out, so we were forced to walk home [since our heartless parents were still enjoying themselves at some posh restaurant, I'm sure] amid ominous booms of thunder and Nora complaining that her stomach hurt. *

* This has been a dramatization of today's events.  Some or all aspects may have been exaggerated slightly.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/03/2002 12:05:00 PM
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BODY:
Thunderstorms are absolutely lovely things.

<B>Ponderings on thunderstorms from last night somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30</b> [I'm unsure of the exact time because when I rearranged my room I did not take into account the number of electrical outlets and now my stereo, which is the only object in my room that tells time other than my computer, is not plugged in]

When it is summer and you have no air conditioning and the bank thermometer thing reads 102 degrees, thunderstorms can be very cooling and refreshing.

When you are a person who delights in other people's misfortunes, it's amusing to look out your window and watch your neighbor's laundry get soaked.

It's also fun to press your nose against the window screen and have your face splattered by rain.  It's like a shower, only better.

Lightning is ten times more fun than any strobe light.

It's not surprising ancient humans believed in gods.  Thunder really does sound like people bowling upstairs.

Thunderstorms are very comforting because you know you're safe and dry inside.  Well, you would be dry if you closed your window, but you have no air conditioning, so you would die from the heat if you did.

And that's all.

Ooh, guess what!  I got my postcard from <a href="http://turn.speechless.nu">Deirdre</a> yesterday!  I would scan it, but remember the electrical outlets issue?  My good old HP OfficeJet G55 isn't plugged in either.  I really need to get an extension cord/power strip.

Plug for <a href="http://www.bunda.org/" target="_blank">bunda.org</a>.  I especially like <a href="http://www.bunda.org/archive/2002_06_30_archive.html#78438373" target="_blank">this</a> post.  <a href="http://www.komotv.com/kenschram/story.asp?ID=19122" target="_blank">This</a> guy is such an idiot.  If someone like him can get a job writing a column, I have no worries about my future.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/02/2002 08:51:00 PM
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BODY:
Oh, lord Jesus!  Is that the sweet sound of rain I hear outside my window?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/02/2002 08:19:00 PM
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BODY:
Went to see <i>Goldmember</i> today.  Despite some q. disgusting moments [i.e., any scene with the fat bastard], I liked it.  The bit with them graduating was really cute &lt;young Dr. Evil3, and the British-English thing was amazing.  Elly, you've got to teach me all that slang.  >D  Hrm. . . I also really liked the Dr. Evil rap.  Minime is so cool.  And Fred Savage and his mole!  &lt;<i>The Wonder Years</i>3  And that's about all I've got to say.  Except I heart Seth Green to the max.

Oh, and they showed the Lord of the Rings trailer before it!  &lt3 @ Aragorn x infinity.  I really need to finish reading those books.

After the movie, we [meaning my family] went out for Chinese.  My fortune: You are next in line for promotion in your firm.  R0x0r.  >D

Have I mentioned that Placebo rocks?  Well, they do.

In new layout news, <a href="http://www.amateurish.org" target="_blank">Elly</A> has a totally groovy layout, baby.  Are the rainbow mouseovers sexy or what?  And <a href="http://allan.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Brinser</a>'s got a 100% flash layout, which is the bizzomb.  Go team flash!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/01/2002 11:42:00 PM
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BODY:
A new month, a new room arrangement, a new layout.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/01/2002 07:22:00 PM
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BODY:
You know, I'm just going to let it go.  Take a deep breath and let. It. Go.  I've read Marisa's blog and I've read Katie's blog and there are so many things I could say, but I'm not going to say them.  I could argue this whole thing out until I was blue in the face, or at least until my fingers were sore and aching, but I won't.

Instead, I'm going to step back, step away, & detach.

I love you all.  I apologize for every wrong you've ever perceived me commit against you.  I apologize for the scrambled syntax of the previous sentence.

Ohmmmmmm.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/01/2002 05:49:00 PM
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BODY:
I spent a good portion of today rearranging and cleaning my room.  It was very stress-relieving.  Yay.  It's not quite done, so I'm not going to take pictures yet, but I will eventually.  And by "eventually," I mean "most likely tomorrow because I know you all are just dying to see my room."
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 8/01/2002 10:41:00 AM
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BODY:
lkdslakdsla;bkfas

I'm so confused.  I'm not sure how I feel or what I want.  I hate being in the self-discovery phase of my life.

Last night I was all ready to reply to Katie in my comments and say something along the lines of "if you think I think you're unnecessary and I think you think I'm unnecessary, our friendship obviously isn't working, maybe we're not just compatible" until Marisa commented and then I was like, well, maybe I need to sleep on it.  Then when I woke up I had an e-mail from Marisa and it was all apologetic and flattering, which I just can't resist, so.  I'm still confused.

Why can't life be simpler?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/31/2002 01:25:00 PM
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BODY:
&lt;sullen, angsty, teenager&gt; Erk.  I was in a chat with Marisa and Katie to plan the art museum excursion.  First, they were frustrated with me because my mother wasn't home and I couldn't leave until she got home.  Then, apparently Katie and I were thinking of two different art museums, so we argued about that.  <a href="http://www.pafa.org/" target="_blank">Mine</a> is open till five, <a href="http://www.philamuseum.org/" target="_blank">hers</a> is open till 8:45, so she argues that it takes two hours to get downtown.  Like, helloooooo.  Or thirty minutes.  Then she's arguing that the museum I want to go to is too small and that we would run out of things to look at.  [It has over 4000 paintings, hers has 500,000.]  But let's think about this. . . even if we looked at twenty paintings a minute for three hours, we'd only get to 3600 of them.  Running out of things to look at is not really a big issue.  Plus, my museum was cheaper and had an exhibit I really wanted to see.

Eventually, I just got sick of arguing and her snottiness & patronizing way of addressing me, so I left the chat in a bitchy sort of manner.

almeDA STAR (1:00:17 PM): Okay, fine. If you don't want to go to the PAFA, you don't have to. You guys can just go by yourselves to whichever museum you please.

And now I am in a bad mood and really don't feel like talking to either of them ever again, but I have to because I still have two books in my possession that I borrowed from Marisa and we're going to the stupid Cake concert together.

I don't know.  It's stupid of me to get in this big thing over an art museum.  I should have just gone to the stupid museum they wanted.  It's just that whenever I'm around them I feel like they're excluding me, they don't like me, they think I'm stupid, etc., and I really don't need that. &lt;/sullen angsty teenager&gt;
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/31/2002 11:57:00 AM
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BODY:
Oh, jeeebus.  The world is a q. tricky place.  Remember how I invited my friends to play Cranium?  Well, we decided to do it yesterday at 6:00 at KT's house.  Then, at like 1:00ish, I ask my mother if I can go.  She's all, "But Cranium's in Philadelphia, at Jane's house!"

Me:  <a href="http://www.geocities.com/animelexicon/faces.html" target="_blank">&gt;.&lt;;</a>  But Joc said I could have it for the summer. . .
Her:  Well, we gave it to Jane.
Me:  ;.;  . . .b-but . . . I told my friends. . . .
Her:  Le sigh.  -.-

And then I called Jane and she was all, "I'm sorrrryyyyy, I read your blog last night, and I was like 'uh-oh'. . . &c."  But then Jane talked to my mummy on the phone and Jane said she would pay for it if my mummy bought the game for us, so we went to Starbucks and got the PRIMO edition of Cranium.  &lt;Jane3 x infinity.

So I went over KT's house and we played until 8, when Allison left, so then we couldn't finish the game.  But I was q. proud of myself because there was a true or false card and it was something like "The speculative trading of wooden clogs caused a market crash for Dutch merchants in 1637" and I was like FALSE, BECAUSE IT WAS TULIPS!  Because I had just finished rereading <i>Confessions</i>, remember?  &lt;Gregory Maguire3   Anyway, after Allison left we watched <i>Mickey Blue Eyes</i>.  D00d, how I adore Hugh Grant.  But. . . it got me thinking and I made a list last night.

<b>I will never date. . .</b>
1. anyone in any sort of mafia or connected to a mafia.
2. sailors, fishermen, or pirates [I'm just not down with the calling boats "she" thing.]
3. religious men [Prince Charming isn't allowed to love anyone more than me. . . not even Jesus.  >D].
4. anyone more than twenty years older than me [actually, preferably no one more than ten years older than me, but I'm giving PC a wide range.]
5. Americans [I definitely want PC to have a sexy accent.  I'm thinking the UK, Ireland, or possibly Australia.].

I haven't quite decided about writers.  On one hand, I might be called fat in his monthy magazine column [à la <i>Good in Bed</i>], but on the other hand, I might be immortalized in sonnets!

Tra la la.  I think KT, Marisa, and I are going downtown this afternoon to the art museum.  &lt;art3

Also, <a href="http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html" target="_blank">The World Factbook 2001</a> is fun.  Although I think I may be boring Abbey by quoting it at her.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/30/2002 01:14:00 PM
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BODY:
Look, I'm cultivating my social life!

<i>I unofficially invited j'all in my blog, but I really, really am digging this game, so I'm inviting you again by mail.  Electronic mail, that is.
 
Cranium is a game of which I recently came into possession.  Don't worry, it is nothing like Jumanji and you won't be stuck in a jungle for a long time like Robin Williams in that movie.  For more information about Cranium, feel free to visit the official Cranium website at <A href="http://www.playcranium.com" target="_blank">http://www.playcranium.com</a>.  I would highly recommend clicking on the US, Canadian, UK, or Australian flag, unless you are fluent in German or French.
 
Anyway.  Would any of you be interested in getting together for a Cranium-playing gathering?  It could tentatively take place at my house, but we kind of don't have air conditioning, so if anyone would like to volunteer their air-conditioned home, playing conditions might be more favourable.  When are you all free?  I have absolutely no social life, so whenever works for me.  Please reply.  Preferably "reply all," so everyone knows what the dillyo is.  Cranium requires at least four players and the more the merrier.  Yay.
 
Sunshine and schnoogles,
Dulcinea ska Almeda mka Kate</i>
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/30/2002 11:14:00 AM
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BODY:
Was woken this morning by my mater handing me the phone.  Thank you, <a href="http://www.dirty-toy.net" target="_blank">Kevn</a>, for that lovely little wake-up call.

Am still tired.  I really need to get to bed earlier.  But it's rather difficult if one can't make oneself fall asleep.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/29/2002 12:31:00 PM
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BODY:
Last night I couldn't fall asleep, which is kind of silly because I fell asleep in a jiffy at Gram Apple's house, and wouldn't you think you'd fall asleep quicker in your own bed?  But apparently not.

So here are my hypotheses:

A.]  It was cooler in CT, so I was more comfortable.

B.]  There was no computer in CT, so I wasn't on the computer right before bed, and my friend did a science fair project in eighth grade about the sleep patterns of teenagers and apparently the light from your computer screen tricks your brain into thinking it's daytime.

C.]  As I lie in bed, I plan the next day.  In CT, everyone else made my plans for me, so I had nothing to plan, so my brain was empty and it was easier to fall asleep.

After an hour or so of not being able to fall asleep, I get up and put the <i>O Brother, Where Art Thou</i> soundtrack in my Aiwa CX-NA505 digital audio system, but I couldn't figure out how to work the sleep function, which was muy frustrating to the max.  Eventually, I just set the timer thing to play at 11:36 [it was 11:35 then] for 60 minutes.  Apparently this is how you have to work the sleep function because at 11:36 it said SLEEP 60 on the little screen and then started to play.  I fell asleep sometime before the last song, I think.  I don't know.

The third song on the CD is "You Are My Sunshine," and that made me cry.  See, it reminded me of when I was little and my parents used to sing that and some other songs to me when they tucked me in.  Hm.  When I try to remember the other songs they sang, I come up with the mental image I got when I was little and they sang that song before I can think of the lyrics.  It's quite silly.  Anyway, let me think.  "Red River Valley" is the other one they sang.  So anyway, I started to miss my childhood, which is pathetic because I am only fifteen years old.  Somehow that led to me realizing that someday my parents would die, which I'd never thought about before, and then I started to cry.  Sometimes I really wish I believed in heaven.

I also came to the conclusion that it's best if your parents are the oldest of their siblings.  That means their parents are closer in age to them, so your grandparents will be alive longer in your lifetime.  If that makes sense.  Well, it made sense to me at about midnight last night, so hmph.

Oh, and because I am so absent-minded and forgetful [which is why I'm also an atheist, of course, according to good old Jim Traficant. "Mr. Speaker, a new report says only 7 percent of scientists believe in God. That is right. And the reason they gave was that the scientists are 'super smart.' Unbelievable. Most of these absent-minded professors cannot find the toilet."], last night I forgot to plug <a href="http://www.dirty-toy.net" target="_blank">Kevn</a>'s <a href="http://letigre.destruction.us" target="_blank">Le Tigre</a> site.  I also forgot to mention that I read <i>Good in Bed</i>, by <a href="http://www.jenniferweiner.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Weiner</a> whilst in CT.  My mater owns a copy of the book, so I'd seen it around, but I didn't know anything about it and wasn't really interested, so I didn't read it.  Joc, my aunt, was reading her own copy in Connecticut, and I was bored, so I stole it and read the entire thing in two or three sittings.  It r0x0red.  To the max.  It was so not at all what I was expecting.  Plus, the heroine lived in Philadelphia, so I was like, "Hey, Morning Glory!  I've eaten there!" and "Beauty school on Bainbridge. . . hey, I've gotten my hair done there!"  Cool to the max.  Read it!

And I think that's everything.  There's probably still something I wanted to blog about, but you know.  Forgetfulness and wot.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/28/2002 09:33:00 PM
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BODY:
<a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> has a cute new Royal Tenenbaums layout & is feeling a bit down, so go visit her.

Apparently my vater is giving out this link to his work chums, because one definitely commented on the Monday entry.  So I guess I'll just have to reveal his darkest secrets here.  Hm, let's see.  Well, Vati has one q. embarrassing, not to mention self-injurious, habit.  He smokes cigars.  Odious-smelling cigars.  And even though he smokes them outside, on the front porch, the scent wafts throughout the entire house.  It's chunderiffic.  Plus, the American Cancer Society tells us that cigar smokers are 5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers.  ;-;  So now you know the TRUTH.

>D  I'm going to be an investigative reporter when I grow up.  Not really, though.  

I was being wiseass-y & obnoxious in CT. and Jocelyn, my aunt, said she can't wait till I write my first book.  Then my grandmater said she hopes she'll be dead by then.  My family has such little faith in me.

First batch of <a href="http://almeda.blogspot.com" target="_Blank">sketches</a> from the trip.  I did a bunch of inkings too, but I'm gonna wait till I CG them to put them up.

--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/28/2002 07:09:00 PM
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BODY:
A plug for <A href="http://deadmousedotnet.net/" target="_blank">Chris</a>, even though he thinks <a href="http://allan.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Brinser</a>'s an idiot.

I think I'm in love with <a href="http://www.dependentfilms.net/pjz/" target="_blank">him</a>.  Even though he hates some feminists, which I consider a personal affront and a crime against humanity.  Only not really, because there are some feminists I probably hate too.  Not because they're feminists, of course.

Anyway.  I thought I had more plugs, but I guess not.  Just go visit everyone in my links section.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/28/2002 05:38:00 PM
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BODY:
Or Sunday.  I'm not good with days.

Connecticut was fun & I didn't even miss the Internet.  I was q. proud of myself.  I am getting over my Internet addiction!  Woo to the hoo.

On the car rides there & back, I drew/listened to music/read.

While there, I went to a playground/went to the library [where Gram Apple works]/went out for ice cream two nights in a row [Oreo from a local ice cream parlour, Butterfinger Blizzard from DQ]/watched TV/washed & dried dishes/took a bubble bath/swam [but I got my period Thursday night, and since I haven't mastered the fine art of tampons yet, that majorly limited my swimtime]/slept/shopped [got a blouse and trousers from The Limited, a red sweater from the Gap, goop for my hair, and a drawing pad]/played Cranium [which is extremely fun, and if any of my "real life" friends would like to play it with me, please call me/IM me/e-mail me and we'll plan something.  It requires at least 4 players, though, so it'd have to be a group affair.  I'm thinking Allison, Cathy, KT, Marisa, anyone else whom I know who's reading this.]/learned how to play Pinochle/got my hair trimmed [Just in the back.  I'm thinking about growing it out into a short bob type thing.]/drew/ate.  Not in that particular order.

And that's about it.  I'm back and kind of disappointed.  It is still far too hot in southern Pennsylvania.  I think I'm going to become a nomad.  I'll migrate north in summer.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/24/2002 11:09:00 AM
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BODY:
Going to Connecticut for a few days.  Be back Saturday.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/23/2002 08:48:00 PM
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BODY:
Woke up around 10:30 this morning.  Did absolutely nothing except stew in my own bitterness and reread <i>Confessions</i>.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/22/2002 08:06:00 PM
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BODY:
I went to the pool this afternoon with Mutti & the sibs.  It was pretty fun because the little kids I met last night were there, so I played games with them and Nora.  Oh, and I did see Allison & Jackie, but they were leaving, so I didn't have a chance to talk to them.  Little kids are more fun, anyway.  xD

After the pool, Mutti took me shopping!  W00t!  So I bought a pair of stripey pants and some shorts because I have NO shorts.  And I'm definitely thinking Reference is not my store.  It is for skinny Asian girls and the clothes there just don't suit my womynly curves.  Le sigh.

Ooh, <a href="http://www.moonbugwings.com/" target="_blank">Moonbug</a> IMed me today!  xD  I haven't talked to her in AAAAAAGES, so that was yay.

And now me thinks I shall watch some Austin Powers.  Because I've never seen the first one, you know.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/22/2002 02:18:00 PM
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BODY:
I am proud because ub.org is the first site google gives you when you search for "<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22white+girl%22+flip+flops" target="_blank">'white girl' flip flops</a>."  xD  I'm the whitest girl with the flippiest flops, y0.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/22/2002 07:30:00 AM
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BODY:
Yesterday from 2:00ish to 5:00ish I went to the mall with KT&Marisa, Inc.  Bought lunch and a cookie.  Was tempted to buy a pair of q. sexy shoes for $5 at Payless, but KT&Marisa, Inc. wouldn't let me. . . something about me being tall enough already.  Pah.  One can never be too tall, I say!  &lt;high heels3

Afterwards was dragged by family to dinner at someone else's house.  Played <a href="http://www.crosswinds.net/~markf/mmind/" target="_blank">mastermind</a> and chess with Colin, then played basketball with my dad and the seven-year-old [I think] son of the couple whose house we visited.  Then was stunned to see Sienna & her mother & brother walking down the street.  Apparently, they just moved in down the block.  So I hung out with Sienna for the majority of the rest of the visit.  That was q. a welcome surprise.

And yes, it is 7:30 AM.  My alarm woke me up at 6:30 this morning, so I was like roll with the punches, y0.  Might as well get up.  As the perspicacious Ben Franklin said, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."  I'm assuming that applies to a womyn, too.  Plus, I've been having trouble getting to sleep these past nights, so perhaps if I get up a bit earlier than noon, it'll be easier to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/21/2002 12:16:00 PM
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BODY:
On Friday night, I was in a chat with my dear friends, and Cathy asked us if we wanted to come over on Saturday at 2:00 for a movie.  I asked the mater, and she said I could because Nora was sick, so she was probably going to cancel the party we were having Saturday.  The next morning, the mater decides that we are having people over after all, so I can't go.  I argue with her, and eventually she says that if the two cousins [or second cousins or third cousins once removed or whatever they are] closest to my age don't come, I can go.  So at like 2:30, representatives from Cathy's house call.  I explain the dillyo, then go ask my mater again, as the two cousins were working/at a reenactment in New Jersey.  [One of my cousins does civil war reenactments.]  So she let me go, w00t.  

We watched <i>Men in Black</i>, which I'd already seen, but a v. long time ago, so it was okay, and played Risk with Cathy's little sister, who reminds me strongly of my own.  It was fun.  I <3 strategy games.  Especially ones in which you get to take over the world.

Also: Section A, Row J, 103-105.  w00t!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/19/2002 08:15:00 PM
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BODY:
Spent majority of day being hot and miserable and complaining about being hot and miserable.

Fortunately, sometime around 4 o'clock this afternoon, our blessed Lord God Almighty gazed upon the ghetto of Ardsley with a benevolent eye and released from the heavens a mighty torrential rain that brought wet, cool solace to the people.  I LOVE YOU, JESUS!

My day was not completely unproductive, though, despite the wretched heat and misery.  Get thee to my <a href="http://almeda.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">sketchblog</a> and you shall see what my artistic toil has accomplished.  Amen.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/18/2002 09:02:00 PM
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BODY:
Went to the library this afternoon because the library is air conditioned, and my parents don't believe in air conditioning, so our house is not.  My parents are still living in the twentieth century.  Not only do they refuse to give in to the AC trend, they also will not let me watch television or take showers.  I am an oppressed child.

Talking of oppression, here is another fun Almeda fact.  Did you know that <A href="http://www.unlimitedsunshine.com/" target="_blank">Unlimited Sunshine</a> will be Almeda's first concert ever?  Well, first real one.  This is because Almeda is a sheltered, white, middle class, suburban girl.  Also because she is the oldest child which adds to her uncoolness.  Younger siblings have their older siblings to look to for coolness.  Older siblings can get younger siblings hooked on cool music & tell them what to wear to be cool.  Alas, Almeda has no older siblings for advice, so she has to forge her own music tastes and clothing trends.  Or look to her q. uncool friends.  [No offense, guys. ;D]

After the library, I dined at <a href="http://www.rebel-alliance.net/images/happy/china-garden.jpg" target="_blank">China Garden Inn IV</a>.  Fortune:  You will make two important decisions very soon.

Or something like that.  I lost it, so I'm afraid I'll never know.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/17/2002 03:40:00 PM
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BODY:
Yay, <a href="Http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> can go!  <3

I watched <i><a href="http://www.filmsite.org/lawr.html" target="_blank">Lawrence of Arabia</A></i> last night.  Chunder to the max.  One of the most boring films I've ever seen.  Lots of camels + lots of sand + lots of men wearing mascara [Peter O'Toole definitely was wearing eye makeup. . . I could not look at him without snorting with laughter] + nearly four hours = not a good formula for a movie, in my opinion.

Some plugs:  <a href="http://www.wunsoongi.com" target="_blank">Yousei</A> has a new domain; <a href="http://speechless.nu" target="_blank">Heather</a> has a new layout; <A href="http://dinbo.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Sancho</a> has a new layout plus comments!; and <a href="http://www.tatugirls.com" target="_blank">t.A.T.u.</A> is just cool.  I <i>so</i> am going to get my hair cut like Julia's.

Hm.  I was discussing <a href="http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/" target="_blank">Enneagrams</a> with Abbey, and we decided I am a <a href="http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/TypeFour.asp" target="_blank">Four</a>.  She's a <a href="http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/TypeTwo.asp" target="_blank">Two</a>.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/16/2002 07:41:00 PM
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BODY:
<a href="http://www.unlimitedsunshine.com/" target="_blank">CAKE</A> IS COMING TO PHILLY AUGUST 22!!!  Aieeeee!!!  The Mater says I can go, but <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> is going to Colorado then, and if I can't go with her, then who?  I don't know anyone else who likes Cake.  No one good, that is.  *strokes invisible beard thoughtfully*  Maybe I can convert one of my friends to Cake and trick them into going. . . .  Ooh, and Neil says she shall burn Cake CDs for me, as I only have <i>Comfort Eagle</i>.  <3 x infinity.

The other day, when I was sifting through my guestbook for poems for the "Almeda" box, I found a quote by me about Gregory Maguire's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060987529/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister</i></a>.

"One thing I really loved about <i>Confessions</i> is that it changed my perspective [on things]. I love when a book does that. The whole time I was reading <i>Confessions</i>, I felt sorry for the girl because she was ugly and no one would ever like her. But when she gets her guy, I was like. . . whoa. You *don't* have to be beautiful to be loved. Which was just revolutionary for me because I've been just so brainwashed my Disney movies and popular culture, etc."

I rock.  And it's cool because it's true.  That book is the best. <3Gregory Maguire<3  I really need to get <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060393823/thewonderfwor0d2/" target="_blank"><i>Lost</i></a>.  [Teehee.  Get lost.]  And talking of books I'm lusting after, I also need <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066236568/thewonderfwor0d2/" target="_blank"><i>Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas</i></a>.  Why are hardbacks so zarking expensive?  Ooh, and three months and thirteen days till <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0064410129/thewonderfwor0d2/" target="_blank">Carnivorous Carnival</i></a>.  Huzzah!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/16/2002 05:30:00 PM
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BODY:
Last night I decided I would rearrange my room.  Why, you ask? Because it is boring and I need change to survive and because I have this dull sense of dissatisfaction with life.  Not that my life is bad, just that my life isn't perfect.  And I am q. the perfectionist.  Sort of.  At any rate, I decided I would rearrange my room.  Good thing, too, because apparently I have v. bad feng shui.

According to Abbey, Feng Shui Master Extraordinaire, the absolute worst feng shui you can have is to sleep with your head against the wall.  "If you sleep like that, it's like the dead man's position, because in China when you're dead, they carry you out feet first."

Some other tips:
SkiDiva2001 (4:33:18 PM): Don't put the head of your bed under the window, either.
SkiDiva2001 (4:33:52 PM): And don't put your feet facing a mirror.
almeda star (4:34:01 PM): Okay.
SkiDiva2001 (4:34:29 PM): Those are really the only major things.
almeda star (4:34:33 PM): Why should one's feet not face a mirror?
SkiDiva2001 (4:34:35 PM): The feet-mirror thing is what got me.
SkiDiva2001 (4:34:50 PM): Because when you're sleeping your spirit floats up and gets scared if it sees its reflection in a mirror.
almeda star (4:34:53 PM): Do they have to be directly pointed at a mirror?
almeda star (4:34:59 PM): Cause there is a mirror on my dresser.
SkiDiva2001 (4:35:00 PM): Well, you have to be facing a mirror.
SkiDiva2001 (4:35:03 PM): Yes, mine too.
almeda star (4:35:05 PM): Okay.
SkiDiva2001 (4:35:17 PM): But in my room, it was like, directly across from the bed, and a really big mirror.

So if I just get that right, my life should improve drastically.  Customer testimonial:
SkiDiva2001 (4:31:05 PM): I'm serious, because my bed used to be that way.
almeda star (4:31:09 PM): And. . .?
SkiDiva2001 (4:31:15 PM): Well, actually, no it didn't.
SkiDiva2001 (4:31:18 PM): It almost was.
SkiDiva2001 (4:31:31 PM): But it had another really bad feng shui thing, and then when I moved it my life got better.
SkiDiva2001 (4:31:37 PM): Seriously.

If you have any suggestions for the rearrangement of my room, feel free to comment, IM me, and/or e-mail me.

To view the current arrangement of my room, as well as pictures from the Great Clean of '02, visit <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/projectfengshui">Project Feng Shui</a>.  xD
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/15/2002 05:22:00 PM
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BODY:
I am so bored.  Watched "Bart the Genius," "Moaning Lisa," "Homer's Odyssey,"  Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," "There's No Disgrace Like Home," and "Bart the General" this afternoon because I have no social life.

Also, It is hot and icky.

Also, I've decided I want my ears pierced again.  Then I would have two holes in each ear, which would be q. fun & exciting.

Also, <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~eissexy" target="_blank">he</a> and <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~neverwonder" target="_blank">she</a> are q. insane and <a href="http://www.dirty-toy.net" target="_blank">he</a> has a receding hairline.

<a href="javascript:viewComments(78951161)">Also</a>, Lucifer is not gay, he just enjoys showing off his well-defined abdomen.  <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=buddha" target="_blank">Buddha</a> is not a woman, but he is frankly q. sick of being portrayed as a jolly fat man.  "Whingey" is <a href="http://effingpot.com/" target="_blank">British slang</a> meaning "whiney."  "Whinge" is the verb form, "whinger" is the noun form, and there isn't an adjective form according to <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=whinge" target="_blank">dictionary.com</a>, so I improvised.  Any further questions, please contact Almeda at almeda@unburdened.org.  Thank you and have a nice day.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/14/2002 08:26:00 PM
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BODY:
Happy Bastille Day!

I saw <i><a href="http://www.minorityreport.com/" target="_blank">Minority Report</a></i> this afternoon.  I liked it, but was q. freaked out the whole time.  Too much suspense for me.

<a href="Http://www.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Yan</a> has completely revamped his site.  It's now q. sexy & grey & movey-abouty.  It looks better in 800x600, sadly, but I suppose no one is perfect.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/13/2002 10:56:00 PM
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BODY:
I've been q. busy working on MY NEW LAYOUT which includes a sexy FLASH INTRO, so that's why I've had no time for blogging the past two days.

Here's what's been up:

Friday:  Last day of Drawing & Painting; everyone's parents came and wandered around; I got to bring all of my art home.  So hopefully I will scan some stuff sometime soon.  After that was over, Mutti took me to the mall and I bought a $20 gift certificate to The Wall/FYE for Amy because I didn't know what to get her.  Amy's party was slightly fun.  It was bothersome that I only knew two people: i.e., Cathy and Amy.  But there was a realllllly cute guy with whom I played monkey in the middle/keep away.  Well, it wasn't just he and I playing, but still.  Highlight of my evening, baby.  And I got a bag of candy at the end, so that was doubleplusgood and almost worth putting up with a bunch of giggly, cliquey juniors-to-be.  I'll do anything for candy. =9

Saturday:  I.e., today.  Since I stayed up really late last night, I woke up at approximately 10:45.  Ate breakfast, got on the computer for a bit.  Helped paint Nora's room.  Helped Vati try to fix our grill.  Went on lots of errands with Vati and Nora: to the bank, to the pharmacy, to the library, &c.  Got a book for Katie with recipes for cucumber masks and strawberry-scented salt rubs and suchlike.  Decorated envelope for her birthday card q. prettily while waiting in car for Vati to come back from depositing checks &c.  Q. pleased with self.  I enjoyed Katie's party more than Amy's because I wasn't intimidated by scary old people.  And by old people, I mean people a year older than myself.  At KT's party, we ate cupcakes and watched <i>Ratrace</i>, which was a highly amusing movie.  Rowan Atkinson + John Cleese = the funny.

And that's all.  Go team Almeda!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/11/2002 05:57:00 PM
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BODY:
Working dilligently & making many breakthroughs with <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/" target="_blank">Flash</a> when mother gives me choice: "Help me paint or take Nora to the pool."  Since I hate work of all sorts, I chose the pool.  My eyes are still all chlorine-y and stinging.

Oh, jeez, I think <a href="http://dinbo.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">she's</a> found her love.

PS:  The last entry was not meant to be whingey & "nobody likes me" & "I feel so left out"-ish.  I adore all of my friends.  <3<3<3

PPS:  Visit the effervescent <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> because she's got a gorgey new watercoloured layout and <a href="http://lulu.reflectedshadow.net/blog/" target="_blank">Andy-chan</a> because I helped her with her blog archives and comments.  =D
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/11/2002 01:39:00 PM
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BODY:
Went to the pool yesterday.  Hung out with Allison & Jackie, which is kind of awkward for me because they've been friends for eleven years and I feel like I have to compete with Jackie for Allison.  But they managed not to exclude me too much; don't worry.  I've decided I need a best friend, though.  A best-best friend.  Because I am just friends with a lot of people, and there's no one I really confide in, tell all my secrets, &c.  For example, <a href="http://indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_blank">KT</a> & <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Marisa</a> are like BFF AAF and practically only talk to each other and read each other's minds and stuff.  I'm kind of like that with Allison. . . I mean we have a trillion inside jokes and can almost read each other's minds, but I'm not her BEST friend, and sometimes we have little tiffs over nothing and it's stupid.  We see too many things differently and it doesn't work.  And she reads this, so I hope she won't be angry or anything.  Actually, I don't really care.  It's my blog and if people want to get angry, that's their business.

Anyway.  Mutti ran into some old friend of hers at the pool who hadn't seen me since I was 18 months old and spoke with a slightly British accent.  Or perhaps it was some other European country, I don't know.  Mutti told me afterwards that the friend had told her that I had the flattest stomach she had ever seen.  >D  It really is too bad that I am so vain.

Lalala.  Tomorrow is the last day of Drawing & Painting.  w00t.  I can start sleeping in again.  Ooh, and tomorrow's Amy's party, so I need to get her a present.  She said she likes "music, jewelry, and art."  . . . so that's helpful.  I don't know what kind of music she likes, I don't know what her jewelry style is, and art. . . ?  Should I get her art materials or something?  I hate buying gifts for people I barely know.  Grah.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/10/2002 01:33:00 PM
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BODY:
Went to the mall yesterday with Mutti, Colin, & Nora [Colin had to buy a birthday present for one of his friends; Mutti couldn't leave Nora home alone].  When we arrived, Mutti gave me money and sent me off to buy a bathing suit and gifts for KT & Amy.  First I went to Strawbridge & Clothier because we had passed a rack of bathing suits there on the way in.  There were none that I really liked, however, so I decided I would go looking for more and come back if I couldn't find anything better.

I traipsed off to Macy's and found a huge sale on bathing suits. . . just about everything was 25%/50% off.  So I got like a bazillion to try on [including a v. cute one with a red checked pattern and cherry blossoms that was just ADORABLE, but unfortunately not my size] and went into a fitting room.  I had tried on a few when my mother & co. found me.  We had forgotten to arrange a meeting time/place.  Since I had already found a suit I really liked, Mutti took it up to the cash register.  It was nearly seventy dollars.  On sale.  So Mutti put that one back right away and sent me off to find some cheaper bathing suits.  Honestly, seventy bucks for two skimpy bits of fabric?  Insane.  Ludicrous!  I fear for the state of our beloved country.

Anyway.  I went to Strawbridge and found the juniors section.  Tried on a gazillion bathing suits.  Actually, only three or four, but I had to try them on multiple times because I would forget what was wrong with each one and have to try it on again.  [There was a girl in the fitting room across from me whose mother told her she couldn't get a bathing suit because she was "hanging out."  "Just on the bottom.  It's fine on the top," the girl said.  "You're hanging out all over," her mom told her.  "What do you mean by hanging out?" the girl replied.  That amused me.]  So I found a couple suits I really liked, but they didn't quite fit right.  

Let me tell you, it is v. difficult if you are a size medium and searching for a bathing suit at the end of the season.  All larges and extra smalls.  Eventually I settled on a suit that was okay, but not as super as the seventy dollar one.  I bought it for $45 and looked at the receipt to realise the time was 4:31.  I was supposed to meet my family somewhere [I couldn't quite remember where] at 4:30, so I rushed off and luckily ran into them, else I would not have known where to go.  So I told Mutti I had bought a $45 suit, which caused her a bit of dismay.  Apparently she was not willing to pay more than 20 dollars for a bathing suit.  But she was tired, so we went home.

At home, Mutti and I watched <a href="http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/162454" target="_blank"><i>Infinity</a></i>, which was pretty good.  After <i>Infinity</i>, Mutti took me out again to find me a less expensive bathing suit.  And we did!  New bathing suit + sexy new sandals = less than cost of $45 bathing suit.  So that was quite a deal.

Bathing suit and sandals are featured on cam.  I would model the bathing suit for j'all, but my dad would probably have a heart attack and he's really too young for that sort of thing.  Maybe when I'm eighteen, guys.  ;D

Perhaps I might go to the pool today.  We shall see.

Oh, and I didn't buy presents for KT or Amy, so I will have to do that.  I don't know what they want, though.  *strokes invisible beard thoughtfully*
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/09/2002 01:17:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I want to buy a bathing suit for the pool party extravaganza this Friday [read: a birthday celebration with a bunch of juniors-to-be whom I barely know], but my Mutti, beloved light of mine eyes and transporter of mine body to the local mall and back, is missing in action.  Colin says she's dropping Nora off somewhere, but Colin is not a reliable source.  Plus, I've been home for over an hour.  How long can it take to drop someone off?  

So, the bathing suit situation: I have no one-pieces, and I only have half of my bikinis.  I.e., the top for this one and the bottom for that one, but no matching pair.  Which is indeed a shame.  If I were Nora, I would probably just wear the mismatched bikini, but I'm afraid I wasn't blessed with her innate flair for fashion.

In new layout news, Flash is a bitch.  Why can't it be simpler?  All this motion tweening crap.  Pah.  But don't worry; with the help of my good friend <a href="http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/multimedia/shockwave_flash/tutorials/tutorial8.html" target="_blank">Michael Kay</a> I'm slowly figuring it out.  Go team me!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/08/2002 12:54:00 PM
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BODY:
Seen on a church sign thingy on the bus ride home:  "Come on in - we're prayer-conditioned!"

Downloaded Photoshop and Flash yesterday [not quite legally] and downloading 3DSMax right now.  Hopefully this will help me get over my layout block because I am just a tad stuck right now.

<a href="http://neil.unburdened.org/" target="_blank">Neil</a> should be coming home from vacation today, or so I've heard.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/07/2002 03:57:00 PM
-----
BODY:
A plug for <a href="http://anti-slavery.com/" target="_blank">iAbolish</a>.  I saw an "anti-slavery.org" bumper sticker when I went to the library on Friday, and of course my first reaction as an ignorant, selfish American was:  "Chuh, slavery's illegal."  Fortunately, my wise Vater pointed out that just because slavery was abolished in the U.S. of A. doesn't mean it is nonexistent worldwide.  So go explore iAbolish and perhaps you'll learn some new things.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/07/2002 03:17:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Watched <i>Shaft</i> last night and found it too violent for me and my peer-mediating ways.  Shooting people doesn't solve anything, kids!

But day-um is Christian Bale one sexy mother. . . [shut your mouth!].  <3  Samuel L. Jackson ain't bad, either, but he's a bit too old.  Actually, he's younger than Alan Rickman, so he's not as old as all that.  Speaking of Alan Rickman, I just remembered that in my dream last night [I've been having a lot of dreams lately. . . or I've just been remembering the contents of my dreams more often lately] I got to see <i>Private Lives</i> again.  I forget the rest of the dream, but I do remember being all excited about getting to see Alan Rickman close-up.  *pats dream self on the head patronisingly*

One book down, ten to go.  I read <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> this morning.  I liked it, but was a bit disappointed by Bradbury's "author's afterword."  It made the book seem more self-serving, which I suppose it has every right to be, but still.  Well, at least it made me think, which is always a good thing.  I don't know.  I like the concept of such dystopian books as <i>1984</i>, <i>Brave New World</i>, &c., but the execution of those aforementioned novels leaves me dry.  Maybe I'm from the wrong time period or maybe I am too stupid to grasp the profoundness of it or maybe I'm not old enough yet, but I prefer my children's lit. to Aldous Huxley anyday.  <3LemonySnicket<3

So tomorrow begins the last week of my drawing and painting course.  I think we are doing acrylics, which is the sux0r.  I hate painting.  Mostly because I'm not good at it and I prefer things at which I am skillful.  xP
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/06/2002 12:48:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Took the <a href="http://www.politicalcompass.org" target="_blank">political compass</a> test last night [Economic Left/Right: -3.88; Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.67] and again this morning [Economic Left/Right: -5.38; Authoritarian/Libertarian: -7.49] after learning what a free-market economy is and reconsidering some of my opinions.  Was just looking at books by <a href="http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/libLeftBooks.html" target="_blank">libertarian left thinkers</a> and noticed Thomas Paine.  I did a report on him in fourth grade.  xD  He's mad cool, y0.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/06/2002 11:45:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Vati forced me to go to the library last night, so I picked up a stack of summer reading material.

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345342968/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Fahrenheit 451</i></a>, Ray Bradbury
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394464575/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Juneteenth</i></a>, Ralph Ellison
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743202007/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man</i></a>, Joseph Heller
<i>The Hemingway Reader</i>, Ernest Hemingway [<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684800713/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Sun Also Rises</a></i>, <i>The Torrents of Spring</i>, and a bunch of selections from his other works]
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375415351/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Sula</i></a>, Toni Morrison
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140088296/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Linden Hills</i></a>, Gloria Naylor
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679749063/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Great American Novel</i></a>, Philip Roth
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807014230/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Walden</i></a>, Henry David Thoreau
<i>New York Novels</i>, Edith Wharton [<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451527569/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The House of Mirth</a></i>, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375758070/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Custom of the Country</a></i>, and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375753206/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Age of Innocence</a></i>]

The above are books from my school's recommended summer reading list.  I went down the list and looked for authors/titles of which I had heard and in which I was interested and looked for those.  If I couldn't find a certain title by an author, I went through the copyright dates of his/her other books and picked the oldest one, for I am quite tricksy.

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/9997413601/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Firedrake</i></a>, Cecelia Holland
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/9997413725/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Rakossy</i></a>, Cecelia Holland

<a href="http://allan.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Brinser</a> recommended Cecelia Holland to me, but I couldn't remember which titles he recommended, so I just got her first two.

In non-book-related news, <a href="http://turn.speechless.nu" target="_blank">Deirdre</a> called me this morning.  <3  I'm horrible at phone conversations [especially with people I don't know v. well], though, so now she probably thinks I'm boring or stupid or possibly both. ><;

Also, had dream last night that Mutti renamed Nora "Blaise."  That was . . .interesting.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/05/2002 12:08:00 PM
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BODY:
I hate Blogger and their stupid server "maintanence."  I hate the snotty people who pay $35 a year to get special treatment.  I hate not being filthy rich.

If you truly lurve me, upgrade me to <a href="http://pro.blogger.com/" target="_blank">Blogger Pro</a>.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/05/2002 09:16:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Yestereve I saw <a href="http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/meninblack/" target="_blank">MIIB</a>.  It was very funny, which I wasn't quite expecting, so that was a pleasant treat. ^^

Last night I dreamt I was pregnant. . . again.  [As Allison can tell you, I am always dreaming that I'm pregnant.]  This time the guy was a year older than me, I think.  It was funny because I remember thinking in my dream. . .  <i>Damn, I feel stupid.  Just the other day I was saying "I'm <a href="http://www.prochoice.org" target="_blank">pro-choice</a>, but I would never have an abortion because I don't plan to have unprotected sex until I want to get pregnant," and now look at me!</i>  Then I was like. . . <i>wait, I've never had sex!  I can't be pregnant!  This is just a dream!</i>  Silly dream self.  Oh, and also in the dream, I remember trying on a <a href="http://www.amateurish.org target="_blank">crapload</a> of formal dresses with <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a> and <a href="http://indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Smith</a>, most of which were too short [I wonder what that could mean. . .].  I forget what the occasion was, though.  Hm.

New guestbook layout. . . sort of.  Really just a new header graphic, new colour scheme, and new alignment.  Also, plugs for the last <a href="http://www.open-mind.nu/domesticated" target="_blank">four</A> <a href="http://sweetacid.org" target="_blank">people</a> <A href="http://oceanate.com" target="_blank">who</a> <a href="http://soulfrog.com/moo" target="_blank">signed</a> and for <a href="http://turn.speechless.nu" target="_Blank">Deirdre</a> because she's in lurve and I owe her a <A href="http://www.unburdened.org/?=worship.html">fansign</a>.

Also, the weather has cooled down a bit.  Yay. <3  [I have been doing the less than three thing a lot lately.  No idea why.  I guess I am just full of love. . .]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/04/2002 05:29:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Happy Independence Day!

Fireworks last night were q. pretty but v. noisy.  I especially liked these ones that sort of shimmered after they first exploded and these other ones that spiralled.  At the end, there were a bunch of really loud, bright ones that I really did not like at all.  It made me think of gunfire.

Slept until noon today, then went to a picnic.  Pretty fun, but extremely hot.  I definitely hate the heat so much.  It makes me uncomfortable and cranky.  Good thing I plan to move to Siberia when I grow up.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/03/2002 03:48:00 PM
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BODY:
Talked to <a href="http://www.open-mind.nu/domesticated/" target="_blank">her</a> yesterday.  Q. cool person.  I lurve when strangers compliment me.  <3
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/03/2002 02:28:00 PM
-----
BODY:
<i>Aida</i> was good.  Awesome choreography and music: "Every Story is a Love Story," "How I Know You," the reprise of "My Stronger Suit," and a few others sent shivers down my spine, and believe you me, it was not from the cold.  I was so sweaty my hands kept sticking to my playbill.  xP

In art today we did faces.  I drew Allison, and while it was better than those of some of the other students, it was no masterpiece.  It didn't look like her, her expression was distinctly scared, and her face was too long.  I always make the faces too long, though, because I'm not directly above the paper when I'm drawing, so my drawings are skewed.  I'm q. silly.

On the bus this morning I was eavesdropping on the bus radio thingy and a bus driver was talking about how a black Acura was tailing him and the other guy was like, "I think I might know who it is; does he look Oriental?"  Disgust.  That's so totally un-PC.  And just the other day I read a fanfic in which the author described two characters as "of Oriental descent."  What's the matter with the world today?!  [<- rhetorical question; don't answer.]

Going to the Phillies game tonight with Miriam.  She's picking me up at quarter to five, and by "she," I mean "one of her parents" because she can't drive yet.  Of course, neither can I.  Le sigh.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/02/2002 12:42:00 PM
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BODY:
<i><a href="http://www.entertainment-link.com/event_details.asp?event_id=810" target="_blank">Aida</a></i> tonight, baseball game & fireworks tomorrow night, w00t.

Yesterday my sister got the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Q2Z1/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">Ah! My Goddess</a> DVD.  She wouldn't let me watch it in Japanese because she is young and silly, so I watched the beginning of the English version, then got bored and decided I was going to watch it again in Japanese, so why watch it twice? and started reading the well-written, original, and humourous articles of the <i>Playboy</i> Sebastian left behind, which was an interesting experience, to say the least.  I especially liked the part where it said <i>Playboy</i> worships women and puts them on pedestals, so really it's quite empowering for the women.  HA.

Talking of "HA"-worthy things, I was eavesdropping on the bus today [as I often do] and heard some summer school kid saying, "Bisexual?  How can you be born bisexual?  It's a choice to be gay."  . . . right.  Suddenly one decides, "Gee, wouldn't it be fun to be attracted to people of the same sex?" and BAM, they're gay.  That's exactly how it works.  Scoff.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/01/2002 05:17:00 PM
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BODY:
<A href="http://www.livejournal.com/~departed" target="_blank">sheownsyoursoul</a>: thanks <3 and i love your accent, by the way

I have a sexy American accent!  xD

<a href="http://www.dirty-toy.net" target="_blank">ninja kevn</a>: Are you a lesbian?
almedast AR: Why do you ask?
ninja kevn: You seem like you might be.
ninja kevn: A novice lesbian.

I can't believe I'm linking him from my site, but there's a first for everything, I suppose.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/01/2002 12:41:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Urgh, I had the most awful cramps today in art.  I tried calling my mum and asking her to bring some Ibuprofen in because it hurt so badly, but she's out shopping for a birthday present for my dad.  [His birthday's today.]  So I tried to just work through the pain, but my uterus wasn't having any of that.  Eventually the cramps were so blindingly [literally. . . I started to see spots] painful that I had to find my way to the nurse's office.  I just lay down until it was time for the bus to come, which helped a bit.  And now they're gone, so I'm fine.  Stupid period. . . 

Also:  Abbey got a <a href="http://www.spotlife.com/users3/skidiva2001/webcam/" target="_blank">webcam</a>!  <3
<A href="http://www.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Yan</a> has a new layout which would be cool if not for the icky blue links. </3

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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 7/01/2002 12:18:00 PM
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BODY:
Thankfully, she is okay.  <3<3<3

<a href="http://www.ensnared.org/heather.html" target="_blank">http://www.ensnared.org/heather.html</a>
<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~departed" target="_blank">http://www.livejournal.com/~departed</a>
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/30/2002 11:54:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Okay, so I am very freaked out.  <a href="http://www.speechless.nu" target="_blank">Heather</A>, who host<b>s</b> my Snape <a href="http://snape.speechless.nu" target="_blank">shrine</a> [I refuse to talk about her in the past tense], IMed me a couple of hours ago.

sheownsyoursoul: I love you. Goodbye <3
sheownsyoursoul signed off at 8:49:37 PM.

Then <A href="http://www.setareh.nu" target="_blank">Jas</a> IMs me.

jas is a STAR (9:05:25 PM): have you rescently talked to heather?
ALMEDA s t a r (9:05:29 PM): Er, yes.
ALMEDA s t a r (9:05:40 PM): She just said: I love you. Goodbye. <3 and signed off rather suspiciously.
ALMEDA s t a r (9:05:49 PM): I hope she doesn't try anything. ;-;
jas is a STAR (9:05:57 PM): yea dude!

And she invites me to a chat with <a href="http://aquatique.net/" target="_blank">Athena</a>.

<a href="http://www.unburdened.org/heatherchat.html">The chat</a>.

To sum it up, I gave them the link to her <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/~departed" target="_blank">livejournal</a> [at this point, I hadn't seen her goodbye entry. . . I didn't read it until later and at that point started crying. . .], we found her phone number and Jas and I called her, but we got the answering machine and left messages.

Me:  Hi, this is Almeda. . . I'm sorry to be calling so late, but I'm just really worried about Heather. . . um, Heather, we love you. . .bye.

I felt guilty about making a long-distance call, but if her life is in danger, I think it's worth it. . . 

I'm going to go to bed now.  I can only hope that Heather's okay. . . .  I'm so scared and confused.

--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/30/2002 01:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to see <a href="http://www.mrdeeds.com" target="_blank"><i>Mr. Deeds</a></i> yesterday with Mutti and Sebastian.  I found it entertaining [John Turturro was AMAZINGLY funny], but my sainted mother complained about the crude slapstick humour and the lack of character development the whole way home.

<a href="http://turn.speechless.nu" target="_blank">cedric0diggory</a>: I dreamed about you.
cedric0diggory: You lived on an island.
cedric0diggory: I went to visit you; it took me forever to get to you, as I had to row.
cedric0diggory: You weren't home, but your mother was.
cedric0diggory: She was dusting the piano in the hall.
cedric0diggory: She was very nice.
cedric0diggory: She showed me Nora's room.
cedric0diggory: Nora had a teddybear.

<a href="http://foiled-again.com" target="_blank">CapnRyan</a>: I had a weird and elaborate dream last night featuring your family and Sebastian.
CapnRyan: It turns out that you have been living next door.
CapnRyan: And I never realized it.
CapnRyan: And Jooodie looks a lot like Madam Hooch.
CapnRyan: It was very sad because no one would talk to me except for Joodie. You were busy with all Sebastian's German friends.

I guess I must emit a "Dream about me and my immediate family!" vibe.

Also, a plug for <a href="http://fivefootfour.com/type">this person</a> [I believe I've plugged her before] because she's really cool and hates the stupid <A href="http://www.kohls.com/media/Photos/Infants_Childrens_Toys/348_Girls_7-16_Denim/70_Novelty_Short/MUDD17122_34873H_244b8.JPG" target="_blank">whisker wash</a> jeans.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/29/2002 05:16:00 PM
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BODY:
<i>I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.

From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.  One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.

I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose.  I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.</i>

Sylvia Plath, <i>The Bell Jar</i>

I love that.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/28/2002 03:08:00 PM
-----
BODY:
When I got home from art today, I felt extremely relieved at the fact that I wouldn't have to make the fifteen-minute trek to the train station [the fam's coming home tonight].  But then I discovered that we had no cat food and my poor widdle babies were starving, so I had to walk to Joe's Market, a teeny local grocery store type thing, and back home, which is just about the same as [if not longer than] the distance to the train station.  Frustration.  I bought four cans of cat food [they usually eat the dry stuff, but 1) no way was I going to lug a huge bag of cat food home and 2) I don't think Joe's Market has the dry food anyway]; a jar of peanut butter, which we were also out of; a box of 10 Kudos milk chocolate granola bars with <a href="http://www.snickers.com/" target="_blank">Snickers</a>, 3 of which I ate on the walk home [I hadn't eaten anything since a bowl of <A href="http://www.wheaties.com/" target="_blank">Wheaties</A> at 5:45 in the morning, so there xP]; and a pack of 5 sticks of <a href="http://www.wrigley.com/" target="_blank">Wrigley's</a> Juicy Fruit chewing gum.  Yay.

So now to catch up on the past couple of days.

Wednesday:
Took the 3:55 train downtown, hung out at <a href="http://www.bordersstores.com/index.jsp" target="_blank">Borders</a> while my aunt went to a doctor's appointment around the corner.  Couldn't find <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060393823/thewonderfwor0d2"><i>Lost</a></i> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066236959/thewonderfwor0d2"><i>Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas</a></i>, so I settled for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060930187/thewonderfwor0d2"><i>The Bell Jar</i></a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553214187/thewonderfwor0d2"><i>My Antonia</a></i>, the latter because it's on my recommended summer reading list, then bought a raspberry iced tea <a href="http://www.snapple.com/" target="_blank">Snapple</a> and a chocolate frog, which was absolutely disgusting.  I got a Gunhilda of Gorsemoor card, though.

After my aunt's appointment, we took a cab to the movie theatre [at least, I think we did. . .this week's been such a blur] and saw <a href="http://www.sumofallfearsmovie.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Sum of All Fears</i></a>, which I liked for the most part.  Ben Affleck + Morgan Freeman = v. cool people.  Well, Morgan Freeman's cool. . . . I just like Ben for his looks.  >D  There was this one scene where the president [or one of the other men in his little circle of friends. . . I'm not sure] was talking about how they had to show Russia they had the guts to strike full force, and that irked me.  I wanted to stand up and yell, "BULLPOOP!" at the screen.  Now, I am no advocate of sexism, but that is such a man reaction.  We big tough men, we break out big guns, we show them who boss.  Disgust.  These are people's LIVES we're talking about.  You don't just go around killing people to teach other country's a lesson.  War is so dumb x infinity.  Someday I am going to be president of the universe and I will end all wars.  Just you wait.  Also, there was another scene in which President Nemerov looked like Snape.  It was amazing.

Following the movie, we went home and had ice cream, and then I went to bed.  I think.  As I said, the week's been a blur.

Thursday:
Fell asleep after art and nearly missed the 12:55 train downtown.  Went to <a href="http://www.jeanmadeline.com/" target="_blank">Jean Madeline</a> and got my nails done.  When the girl who did my nails first came to get me from the waiting nook, she mispronounced my name.  I didn't correct her because I'm so used to everyone getting my last name wrong and I didn't think it would matter.  Later her teacher-supervisor-person [it's a beauty school thingummy. . . so you can get stuff done by the students for cheap] came by and she introduced me to him, again pronouncing my name wrong.  Only this time I realize she's not even close.  "I drive a Chevy," the supervisor-type-guy jokes.  I smile in an acknowledging sort of way, feeling guilty about not confessing that my last name is not Chevy.  Then, as she's painting my nails and we're talking just to make conversation, she says, "That's such a cool last name. . ." at which point I figured it was too late to correct her now and hoped this would never backfire on me.  So that was interesting.  Chevy, pish.

Oh, and then my aunt paid for it, right?  And she added the tip in when she paid, so I don't think my girl knew that she was getting a tip.  I swear she gave me a dirty look and said "No." in a sullen voice to one of her little wannabe nail-painter, hair-dresser friends who I can only assume asked, "Did you get a tip?"  She seemed like a very sullen young lady, actually.  She was v. nice & friendly and all that while I was getting my nails done, but I watched her [I enjoy people-watching] as I was waiting for my aunt and she just had this sulky look on her face the whole time.  So maybe she was just having a bad day or something or maybe I was misreading her or whatever, but still.  C- for attitude.

After my manicure and my aunt's pedicure [I had to run to her house and get flip-flops for her because the shoes she wore to the place would have messed up her nails. . . fortunately she lives just around the corner, figuratively not literally, from Jean Madeline.], we went to see <a href="http://badcompany.movies.com/" target="_blank"><i>Bad Company</i></a>, which I enjoyed a lot.  I absolutely adore Chris Rock.  <3  Then we rented <a href="http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Movies/Titles/D/Die_Hard_Trilogy/Die_Hard/" target="_blank"><i>Die Hard</i></a>, which was worth it just for Alan Rickman.  Jebus, how I love him.  Especially with a German accent.  xD

And as for my art course, I'm enjoying it.  Since last I spoke of what we did in class, we've done a charcoal still life [which I didn't quite finish], made a sketchbook out of cardboard, paper, a lot of glue, and yarn, and are now working on this colored pencil bestiary type thing.  I got the letter "P," so I've done a phoenix à la Harry Potter.  >D

And I am utterly exhausted, so I think I might take a nap right now.  It will take me at least 12 hours to recover from all the walking I've done these past five days.  =P
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/26/2002 01:41:00 PM
-----
BODY:
xDDDDD  Report card came today!

Final grade in all classes: A
G.P.A.:  4.455
Rank: 9 in class of 579

Super, ne?  I <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=2002_02_10_archive.php#9664905">improved</a> from the second marking period.

Also got recommended summer reading list and physical fitness test placement.  Heh.  One "above average", three "average", and two "needs improvement".  Stupid gym.

Saw <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/LateMarriage-1112869/">Late Marriage</a> last night. . . .Incredibly weird movie.  I don't know.  Crazy stuff.

I <3 <a href="http://www.jesusoftheweek.com" target="_blank">Jesus</a>. 
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/25/2002 03:17:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Erlack.  On a scale from 1 to 10, I am about 100 tired.  By 6:00 this morning I had showered & eaten breakfast.  By 7:00 I had boarded my train.  By 8:00 I had walked from the local train station home, then walked to the bus stop.  And it's SUMMER.  I am <i>so</i> not one of those beastly morning people.

Anyway.  Art was slightly more enjoyable today.  We did some pen-and-ink work and I made a large mess.  Well, I just got smallish blobs of ink everywhere.  And on my face.  So that was slightly embarrassing.  ^^;;

Am catching the 4:55 train downtown.  Yay.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/24/2002 04:59:00 PM
-----
BODY:
As I am able to blog, the clever & perceptive reader should be able to deduce that I did not go to Avalon because the c. & p. reader knows that there is no Internet access there.  So, yes, I chose the art class.  I'm staying with my aunt and her roommate who is similar to an aunt but actually isn't [both would like it known that they are not lesbian lovers, despite what the <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=cast.html" target="_blank">cast</a> list might make it seem] and am going to commute back to the 'burbs ["residential area or community outlying a city" for all you non-hep-to-the-jive people] for my morning art class [8:30 - 11:30 . . . have to be at bus stop at 7:40. . . dreary business, that.]

First class was this morning.  Basic stuff such as doing line drawings of your partner without looking at your paper, making stupid stencils, drawing crumpled up balls of paper, copying upside down line drawings of old men with large noses and neckties, etc.  I am <i>so</i> very dreadfully looking forward to tomorrow.

Plugs for <A href="http://turn.speechless.nu" target="_blank">Deirdre</a> and <a href="http://amateurish.org/" target="_blank">Elly</a>, & <a href="http://indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Smith</A> for being whingey bints who also happen to like my haircut and <a href="http://junkie.riddle.nu/" target="_blank">Mimi/Meg/Arachne/</a> for having a colourful new layout and lurving my boots.

Question of the moment [to provoke more commenting because comments make me feel warm & fuzzy inside]: Would you still read my blog if I changed my name to <a href="http://www.he-man.org/magazines_image/03-2.jpg" target="_blank">She-Ra, Princess of Power</a>?
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/23/2002 11:41:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Plugs: <a href="http://extinguished.org/britney/" target="_blank">Britney</a>, <a href="http://www.imprisoned.org/" target="_blank">Colin</a>, and <a href="http://unsought.net/" target="_blank">Richard</a> for liking my hair; <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org/" target="_blank">Neil</a> for liking Colin Firth; <a href="http://ensnared.org/" target="_blank">Bek</a> for being my webcam sister xD;  <a href="http://www.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Yan</a> for having a mom with cornrows; <a href="http://allan.foiled-again.com" target="_blank">Scurv</a> for liking the =/ smiley face; and <a href="http://www.amateurish.org" target="_blank">EleanoUr</a> foUr being incredibly suppoUrtive aboUt the whoUle cam business and sending me the ChillCam soUftware, which was excessively kind of her.  ^_^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/23/2002 08:32:00 PM
-----
BODY:
New layout.  ^_^  Simple, but PINK.  Which makes up for everything.  xD

So yesterday I was dragged off to a barbecue at the house of my second cousin [. . .I think.  What's the correct term for your mother's cousin?  Second cousin?  Actually, I'm not even sure if she <i>is</i> my mother's cousin.  No one's ever stopped to explain the connection to me.  *shrug*] and the family was reunited with our <A href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=2002_05_05_archive.php#76373658">ex-foreign exchange student</a>.  When I was in sixth grade, he stayed with us for a year.  He's nineteen now and really hasn't changed v. much.  Still just as spoiled and arrogant.  ;D  Extremely muscly [if that's not a word, too bad] legs, though.  Must be all that soccer.  >D  He was talking to <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=cast.html#minerva">Mervy</a> earlier & they were arguing about America vs. Europe, ethnocentricity, etc.  I was spying on them and found it quite amusing.  xD

Anyway, back to the barbecue.  It was . . . tolerably fun.  Got to see relatives and suchlike.  Don't have any cousins my own age, sadly.  Ah, well.  C'est la vie.

Hm.  I am in a bit of a dilemma.  Tomorrow is the first day of my drawing & painting course at <a href="http://www.eastech.org/" target="_blank">Eastern</a> and tomorrow is also the day my family is going to Avalon for a week.  So I have to choose. . . art or the beach.  >.<  Blah.  I hate decision-making.  I'll have to talk with my parents.  xP

That's all for tonight, I think. . . Goodnight, friends.  ^_^
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/22/2002 08:52:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Ergh.  Was woken up at 5:30 this morning, which is an utterly ungodly hour, by my cousin Leo.  He said to me, "I'm the first one up!" so I felt obligated to get out of bed and make sure he wasn't getting into trouble.  I tried to put him in front of <a href="http://www.landbeforetime.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island</a></i>, but I couldn't find the remote control and the television was being v. disagreeable, so I puttered around, half-asleep, in search of the remote until my mother came downstairs.  I let her take control and stumbled back to bed, only to find that it's v. difficult to fall back asleep once you've been forced to stand up and actually think.  But I managed, never fear.  ^_^
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/21/2002 07:58:00 PM
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BODY:
OHHHHHH, MY JEBUS!  I'VE GOT A WEBCAM AND I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!

Oh, jeez.  Oh, triple jeez to the umpteenth power.  This is mad r0x0r fun.  Mmm, just you wait until I get this set up!  [Horrible image quality, but damnit, it's better than nothing!]
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/21/2002 06:09:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Went to see <i><a href="http://promo.warnerbros.com/scoobydoo/home.html" target="_blank">Scooby Doo</a></i> today with the Mater, Colin, Nora, cousin Leo, and comrade Allison.  Well, actually, M, N, and L saw <i><a href="http://www.liloandstitch.com" target="_blank">Lilo + Stitch</a></i>, whilst C, A, and I saw <a href="http://promo.warnerbros.com/scoobydoo/home.html"><i>Scooby Doo</i></a> because I wanted to see the HP trailer.  Jolly good fun, that.  Can't wait 'til November.  Rotten luck about puberty, wot?  All those bally little tykes' voices changing.  Deucedly amusing and so forth, don't you know.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/21/2002 10:25:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Finished watching <i>Pride & Prejudice</i> last night.  O Colin Firth, how I adore thee!  <3
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/20/2002 05:17:00 PM
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BODY:
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on.

Spent last night and this morning reading <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743227441/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank">The Other Boleyn Girl</a></i>.  It was really good, but the bothersome thing about historical fiction is that you already know how just about everything will turn out.  Henry marries Anne, she doesn't bear him a son, he has her beheaded, etc.  And then you get frustrated at the characters for making silly decisions because you know what's going to happen.  Still very nice, nonetheless.  I recommend it, if you like rich and compelling tales of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue.  ;P
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/19/2002 07:35:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Spent most of today cleaning and bossing my sibs around.  Fun stuff.  I'm so proud of myself.  =)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/19/2002 11:30:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Yesterday met Allison and Jackie at the pool at 5:00ish and swam, but it was v. cold, so stayed only for an hour.  Took shower, then at 7 was picked up by KT.  We [+ Marisa] went to Blockbuster, but couldn't decide on a movie, so we just went back to her house and watched the first tape of <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>.  I <3 that book x infinity.

Ahh, summer.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/18/2002 01:03:00 PM
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BODY:
Testing something for <a href="http://www.setareh.nu" target="_blank">Jas</a> [because she's a star xD].

<center><a href="http://www.setareh.nu" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://setareh.nu/linkme14.gif"></a></center>
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/17/2002 06:11:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Just remembered!  Okay, so I had an <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=2002_06_09_archive.php#77713011" target="_blank">89.75</a> for the year before the biology final, right?  Then I get an 80 on the final.  ;-;  But he grades on a curve!  So it's 80/90, which is 88 and 8/9, or 89 if you round.  Still, I don't think that's high enough to get an "A."  xP  But then. . . I walk into biology third period this morning and. . . VOILA!  I'VE GOT AN "A" FOR THE YEAR!!!  And I thought biology was going to be my only "B," spoiling my GPA and class rank!  But no!  Apparently, I had an 89.95 for the year, which he rounded to an "A."  Sweet Jebus, I <3 Mr Hartwell.  Life is good!  Das Leben ist gut.  xD
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/17/2002 05:30:00 PM
-----
BODY:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  Who's a sophomore?!  I AM!  Well, not really.  But technically.  xDDDDDD  Yay!

Remember how I was all "<a href="http://www.unburdened.org/?src=2002_06_02_archive.php#77477013" target="_blank">I'm waiting until school gets out</a>"?  That was silly.  Because it really wasn't a big deal at all.  Everyone was just like, "Ohh, it looks soooooo cute!" and I actually enjoyed it because, as jall [and by "jall," I mean "y'all"] know, I'm quite the attention-seeker.  Anyway, I've decided I really like my hair cut.  V. pleased with it.  <3

So after school we [meaning a bunch of my posse] went to Ruby Tuesday's, then wandered around the mall.  That was pretty fun.  It's bothersome when everyone does not pay their full share of the bill [including tip], though.  Hmph.

It's summer!  Woohoo!  Wow, I just can't get over it.  I'm out of the junior high at last!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/16/2002 05:23:00 PM
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BODY:
Gave Vati a $20 gift certificate to Borders, so he took me there this afternoon and we got <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743227441/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>The Other Boleyn Girl</i></a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142000809/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Ex Libris</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060194243/thewonderfwor0d2" target="_blank"><i>Sharpe's Fortress</i></a> [Vati <3s historical fiction].  Then we stopped at a bakery and he bought a loaf of rye bread and <a href="http://www.honesttea.com/" target="_blank">Honest Tea</A> and I got a chocolate fudge brownie.  Yum.

Tomorrow's the last day of school!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/15/2002 05:26:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Agreed to help clean up basement and got to go to the mall.  Yay.  =D

By the way, the only one so far with negative comments on my hair has been my sister.  "I liked it better long.  You look like a boy."  But she watches too many Disney movies and has a skewed sense of reality, so one can't really trust her opinion too much.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/15/2002 02:25:00 PM
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BODY:
Eeeeeee!  My hair is <a href="http://www.unburdened.org/haircut.gif" target="_blank">short</a>!  I want to go buy sparkly barrettes and earrings and other fun stuff, but my parents are being pjooey.  I'll take pictures as soon as I can.  [It's times like these which make a girl want a webcam *hint<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/wishlist/G866H9TUHI69" target="_blank">wishlist</a>hint*.]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/14/2002 04:46:00 PM
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BODY:
Oh, jeez.

Today was our last English class and Mr Kleba said that students needed to be told what teachers learned from THEM more often, so he got out his grade list and told every person in my class what he admired about them.  When he got to me, he looked down at my name, shook his head, and said, "What can I say?  You're smarter than me.  You could probably teach this class better than me.  You're more mature than me. . ."  And then he said something about how I should go after every dream I have, because he knows I can do it, or whatever.  I started crying.  It was so amazing.   I'm going to miss that class entirely too much.  ;-;

I don't have time to write anything else 'cause I've got a train to catch, but I'll post my favourite yearbook entries later.  Tomorrow, I guess.  Perhaps Sunday.  And when I blog again, I will be a changed woman.  xD  [Go team haircut!]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/13/2002 05:42:00 PM
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BODY:
By the way:  91 on the world civ. nine-week test and "Flawless.  As I expected." on the English final.  Today took a cumulative vocab test and got only one question wrong.  The word was "platitude" and you had to choose a synonym.  The answer was "bromide," but as I didn't know what "bromide" means, I stupidly didn't pick it.  Also, 95 on my biology paper.  =)
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/13/2002 05:28:00 PM
-----
BODY:
We had a "carnival" today tenth period.  All the graders ninth did goeth outside and the cotton candy, and the popcorn, and the water ice, and the soft pretzels they did eat.  And there was a dunking thing where one did throweth a ball at a target and the person [in this case, members of the faculty] who was sitting on the stool thingy got dunkedeth in the water and the ninth graders did laugh and cheer and rejoice, yea verily.  So I mostly went around and signed yearbooks/got my yearbook signed.  Yay.

Eleventh period was art and we just signed yearbooks again.  One boy was playing a guitar and I got this very strange feeling inside.  A warm, familiar feeling.  And I don't even like him that way!  I hope I won't have a weakness for guys who play the guitar for the rest of my life because that might prove quite bothersome.  Stupid father raising me in a household of music. . . 

Anyway.  Then a group of guys decided I sound like Marzipan.

"Er, <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=marzipan" target="_blank">marzipan</a>?" quoth I.  "Isn't that something you eat?"
"No, it's a character."
"A character?"
"Yes, from Homestarrunner."

So with more questioning, I figured out that Homestarrunner was some sort of web cartoon thing.  <a href="http://www.homestarrunner.com" target="_blank">http://www.homestarrunner.com</a>.  Go to games > Marzipan's answering machine or games > Audition with Marzipan or watch the actual cartoons to hear her voice.  I don't sound like her at all, so I don't know what those silly boys were talking about.  She has a southernish accent, for Chrissake.  [There really needs to be a non-religious equivalent of that.  And not something stupid like "for crying out loud."]  So they were trying to get me to say stuff and laughing whenever I did.  Honestly, boys are such useless creatures.

After school, as I was heading to the bus-loading platform with my dear compadre Allison, I was accosted by Miriam, insisting that there was a NJHS meeting after school.  "What?" quoth I in confusion.  Then I remembered I'd promised Katie I'd be on her team for some trivia thing or something.  Grr.  So I stayed after school until four and our team won the game and we each got five dollar certificates for Rita's Water Ice.  Yay.

My current average in biology is an 89.75, so I'm going off to study my little heart out for the final tomorrow, as it will decide my grade for the marking period and consequently the year.  Toodlepip.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/12/2002 10:58:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Valuablehost was down earlier, pjoo on them.  Went downtown this evening.  School's over in 2.5 days.  Got yearbook today.  Dark blue with white and red stars.  Not as bad as suspected.  Moo.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/11/2002 09:46:00 PM
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BODY:
cantercody (9:21:44 PM): any interest in going to the game friday night
almedastaR (9:21:49 PM): Er, what game?
cantercody (9:21:55 PM): and getting hair done in morming
cantercody (9:22:00 PM): baseball, dear
almedastaR (9:22:06 PM): Oh, that game.
cantercody (9:22:07 PM): the only game in my book
almedastaR (9:22:09 PM): =)
almedastaR (9:22:13 PM): Yeah, sounds good.
cantercody (9:22:13 PM): except the game of life
cantercody (9:22:18 PM): cool
cantercody (9:22:28 PM): i'll make arrangements
almedastaR (9:22:34 PM): Okay.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/11/2002 07:42:00 PM
-----
BODY:
O Thunderstorm, how I love thee!  So refreshing, so cooling, so lovely.

Three and a half more days of school, and this little girl is so ready for summer.  Bring it on, baby!  We're getting our yearbooks tomorrow [must remember to bring in money!] and rumour has it that they're red and white and blue with stars and such.  Ick.  I am so sick of the "patriotism is cool" fad.  DISGUST.  That is what I feel.

New layout <a href="http://www.imprisoned.org" target="_blank">here</a>.  Blue and sexy, yay.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/10/2002 09:01:00 PM
-----
BODY:
I haven't been satisfied with any of my recent layouts [that's why I've gone through three layouts in the past month], and I can't tell if that's just me setting my standards too high or my layouts all sucking or just my fickle and capricious [vocab word!] nature coming through.  So for now, I'm just going to leave this boring, plain layout up until inspiration strikes [or until some kind, generous, talented soul makes me a new layout.]
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/10/2002 07:01:00 PM
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BODY:
The world is such a lovely place, full of tricksome coincidences.

Allicat704 (7:07:02 PM): adios
SkiDiva2001 (7:07:04 PM): Adios.

[These were in two different windows.  Crazy, ne?]  Just the other day I was reading Monty Python scripts and I saw the word derring-do, only it was "dewing-do," because the guy had a lisp, and it took me a moment to figure it out.  Then, like the day after, I found the word in a book I'm reading.  And not too long after that, it was Word of the Day.  [I'm a dork, so I get <a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/" target="_blank">words</a> sent to me daily.]  And on the way to <i>Spider-Man</i>, I heard Macy Gray on the radio, and I was like, "Mum, I haven't heard this song in ages, but I just saw the lyrics this morning in someone's profile, and now here it is!" and then Macy was in <i>Spider-Man</i>, and I was like, "Whoaaaaaaaaaa."  I <3 stuff like that.
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/10/2002 04:55:00 PM
-----
BODY:
Four and half more days of school.  Life is good.
--------


AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/09/2002 02:08:00 PM
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BODY:
How was my weekend?  Well, I'm so glad you asked!

On Friday night I went to see <a href="http://yayasisterhood.warnerbros.com/" target="_blank"><i>Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood</i></a> with <a href="http://indecisivesoapbox.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Smith</a> and <a href="http://neil.unburdened.org" target="_blank">Neil</a>, which I really liked.  I was literally either laughing or crying throughout the whole movie.  Maggie Smith r0x0red.  I need to read the book now.  

Saturday morning I woke up between 7 and 8 o'clock, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed hair, brushed teeth, put in contacts, etc.  Then Mutti and I [well, mostly Mutti] drove to Trenton and we took a train from Trenton to Penn Station.  Upon arrival in New York, we wandered around for a couple of hours, then went to see <i>Private Lives</i> at the <a href="http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/rodgers.htm" target="_blank">Richard Rodgers Theatre</a>.  Best parts?  The amazing sets, and of course getting to see Alan Rickman live.  He is god.  xD  Anyway, it was really funny.  I thought so, at least.  All the actors were great.

After <i>Private Lives</i>, Mutti was like, "Well, we're here, so we might as well see another show."  We waited in line at TKTS for about 45 minutes and. . . GOT HALF-PRICE TICKETS TO SEE <i>RENT</i> IN THE <a href="http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/neder.htm" target="_BLANK">NEDERLANDER THEATRE</A>!!!  It was super.  It was intense.  Angel was so cute, Maureen kicked major ass, Mimi was sexy, Collins was groovy, Joanne rawked, and Mark was just darling.  I didn't particularly like Roger, though.  He sang like he thought he should be in a punk rock band or something, and he wasn't even that attractive.  GET OVER YOURSELF, BABE.  But it still wasn't bad.  We had seats in the orchestra, which was great, because we were much closer to the stage than we were for <i>Private Lives</i>.  However, this guy was sitting in front of me and blocking my view, so I switched seats with Mutti because Mutti had already seen a production of <i>Rent</i> and wasn't as excited about it as I was.  Also, we were a bit too far to the left, so I couldn't see some of the "Life Support" scene.  But the set was awesome and so were the costumes.  It was fun.  =)

Oh, and between buying the tickets and actually seeing the thing, we had an hour or two, so we went to a vegetarian restaurant for dinner.  The <a href="http://www.zenpalate.com/" target="_blank">Zen Palate</a>.  Good stuff.

After <i>Rent</i>, which ended around 10:30, we took the train back to Trenton [I fell asleep several times], then Mutti drove home [I slept the whole way].  It was sometime between 1 and 2 in the morning when we got home, I think.  I took my contacts out and went straight to bed.  Woke up at 11:00 this morning.  Had pancakes for breakfast, read the comics, took a shower, and here I am.

FIVE AND A HALF MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!
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AUTHOR: kate
DATE: 6/07/2002 05:26:00 PM
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BODY:
I've decided I'm getting my hair cut.  REALLY CUT.  Not just trimmed.  I need to get rid of my split ends and I want to cut my hair before it gets too long.  Because the longer it gets, the more emotionally attached to it I become.  I <3 my long hair [it's not as long as <a href="http://www.blotts.org" target="_blank">Maddy's</a>, but it's an above average length, I think] and it will be sad to part with it.  But I need change.  So I've promised myself that I'm going to get it cut.  In a funky, trendy fashion.  Possibly layered. If I'm really brave, I'll even dye it [or highlight it or streak it or something].  NEED CHANGE.  AM TEENAGER SEARCHING FOR SELF.  ^_^  Plus, long hair is really hot in summer.

So I'm on the lookout for haircuts I like.  I've even been browsing around webcams to spy on people.  >D  The problem is that my hair is really thick, so it might not work with a haircut I want.  Stupid hair.

Hm.  The problem with getting a radical new hair cut is that once your hair is gone, it'