Her-own-eyes.org

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Mon, 07 Jul 2003 01:32:00 +0000

&236; Small i, acute accent &237; Small i, grave accent &238; Small i, circumflex accent &239;

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Mon, 27 Jan 2003 20:40:00 +0000

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 Lucky. 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sat, 11 Jan 2003 21:16:00 +0000

Death Stalks a Continent AIDS in Africa 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 Paulinchen, 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 layout, which is blue and loffly.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Fri, 10 Jan 2003 22:45:00 +0000

I watched Zeffirelli's La Boheme 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!

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Fri, 10 Jan 2003 16:54:00 +0000

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 then]. 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Fri, 10 Jan 2003 02:18:00 +0000

Remember how I always say the world would be so much better if I were in charge? Well, now I have my own nationstate! The Queendom of Almeda "Semel insanivimus omnes." UN Category: Left-Leaning College State Civil Rights: Superb Economy: Good Political Freedoms: Excellent Location: 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Thu, 09 Jan 2003 23:25:00 +0000

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 Tyler? 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 Moore 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, shirtlessness is the way to go.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Thu, 09 Jan 2003 02:31:00 +0000

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 claim, y0. Also, war is peace.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Wed, 08 Jan 2003 23:30:00 +0000

"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, 01-08-02 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) International Vegetarian Union: all kinds of good stuff here. Jeg elsker dyr, s� jeg spiser dem ikke. "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 Nutritional pros and cons of Meat-based and Vegetarian Diets. 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) Famous vegetarians 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) In a Vegetarian Kitchen: recipes galore. :D "Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) The Veg Blog: "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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Wed, 08 Jan 2003 01:45:00 +0000

AHHHHHH!!!!!!1111111one Lifesize cardboard cutout hobbitses!!!!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 How to Insult, Abuse & Insinuate in Classical Latin. 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[***]. *Bona uxor suave ductust, si sit usquam gentium ubi ea possit inveniri: 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. ** 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: 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 *** Gratuito potius malus atque crudelis erat: He was gratuitously nasty, mean and cruel, whenever possible. Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. My body began to reboot its Ovarian Operating System today, so to honour it I ordered some Lunapads, 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 after I took the pain relievers, I'd have, as Holiday Golightly would say, the Mean Reds. "Though the medication brought immediate 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, Cunt 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?

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Tue, 07 Jan 2003 22:55:00 +0000

Tell ten people. And tell them to tell ten people. We'll change the world. "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 . . ." ~ Not In Our Name Common Dreams: "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." ~ Attack Iraq? No! MoveOn.org End The War - "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." TruthOut.org "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." ~10 Reasons to Oppose the War with Iraq VoteNoWar.org "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." ~Mario Tell ten people.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Mon, 06 Jan 2003 23:35:00 +0000

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: Elly and Dom 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, NEW LAYOUT. ABBEY IS COOL.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Mon, 06 Jan 2003 00:27:00 +0000

It snowed, it snowed, it snowed! O lovely, precious snow, how I adore thee. Neil has some really pretty pictures up. *jealous of the sexiness that is Neil's digital camera* I downloaded & listened to a debate 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 this man not absolutely loffly? Le sigh. Dominic Monaghan on my desktop and la vie est bonne.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sun, 05 Jan 2003 17:56:00 +0000

Colin has a pretty new layout. <3 So does Neil. And she tolly can read my mind, I swear. This is cool [thx to Beki 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."

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sun, 05 Jan 2003 17:43:00 +0000

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 Lost, watched the beginning of Laurence Olivier's King Lear with mother, grew bored, went back to reading Lost, ate dinner, watched Dangerous Liaisons, finished reading Lost, went to bed. I really enjoyed Dangerous Liaisons: much better than Cruel Intentions. 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! Lost was excellent as well. I really love Gregory Maguire, although I think he's gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Fri, 03 Jan 2003 21:17:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Thu, 02 Jan 2003 23:24:00 +0000

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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Thu, 02 Jan 2003 02:29:00 +0000

I finished reading Failing At Fairness 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 Cunt, Reviving Ophelia, 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? This is really cool. I'm tempted to start doodling swastikas everywhere. I know she 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 four penises penetrating a vagina, 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 art is not half bad. The ones of buildings are especially nice.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Thu, 02 Jan 2003 00:49:00 +0000

Happy new year! :D Welcome to 2003. Last night was q. enjoyable. When I arrived, The Simpsons 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*

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Tue, 31 Dec 2002 23:20:00 +0000

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 Eleanour 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 Reviving Ophelia, 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* <3

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Tue, 31 Dec 2002 01:27:00 +0000

Almeda Stalks Colin 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Tue, 31 Dec 2002 01:00:00 +0000

Almeda Is Not A Pretty Pretty Princess Last night Almeda attended a small gathering chez R. Collins, where attendants played Pretty Pretty Princess, an impossibly complicated The Simpsons trivia game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, 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.

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sun, 29 Dec 2002 18:05:00 +0000

Public Service Announcement: Rape Is Bad "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 Reviving Ophelia

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sat, 28 Dec 2002 19:49:00 +0000

Reading Consumes Almeda's Life 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 Reviving Ophelia. "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." 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 giggled 'cause 'Bill Boyd' is one letter away from 'Billy Boyd,'" explains Almeda. "But then, on the same page . . ." 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. "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 Cunt, then buy this."

noreply@blogger.com (kate) — Sat, 28 Dec 2002 00:43:00 +0000

Remember NaNoWriMo? In response largely to the nagging of Elly, 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.