Both Sides Now

My parents have been trying to learn Both Sides now together - my dad on the guitar and my mom singing.

Both Sides Now was originally written and performed by Joni Mitchell, but several artists since then have done covers of it. I bought Hayley Westenra's version online a couple months ago, and showed it to my parents, which inspired my dad to learn it on guitar.

It's really a beautiful song. Here are the lyrics, and Hayley Westenra's lovely video. Listen to Joni Mitchell's version, too, if you can.

Bows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons evrywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
Ive looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its cloud illusions; I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
Ive looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Dont give yourself away

Ive looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions; I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
Ive looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living ev'ry day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions; I recall
I really don't know life at all

I feel like some spell is broken every time the song ends...

A Warning

Some of you may have noticed that I have changed my layout again. Yes. That's because I'm a wishy-washy nitwit. And very picky.

Tomorrow is April 1st - April Fool's Day. I thought it would be a decent thing to warn you. Don't worry: I'm not thinking of pulling any pranks this year (unless my mother and I come up with something brilliant to tell my dad), but I'd just like you all to be careful, just in case. I know from experience that it's not a good thing to forget the date on April 1st.

Of course, being fooled is half the fun.

Now, NarniaWeb.com's April Fool Archive.

2006
2007

*snickers* Camp NarniaWeb... *sigh*

Adventures That May Or May Not Be So

Oh, my goodness! You’re not going to believe what happened to me. You’re simply not going to believe it!

Okay, so I was just walking around the yard when suddenly, I saw a rabbit bounding into the sagebrush. And this wasn’t an ordinary brown rabbit with a fluffy white tail. This rabbit had a pocket-watch and a waistcoat! Having read the right sort of books, this wasn’t as shocking to me as it could have been. But I was still very surprised.

So I followed the waistcoated rabbit - I mean, wouldn’t you?

I had to cut through the sagebrush, which slowed me down a bit, and pretty soon I lost sight of the rabbit. Then just as I was about to turn back I fell into a hole that I’m positive wasn’t there before today. It was a little big for a rabbit hole, but maybe the rabbit was some kind of rabbit king or something. He looked pretty important, with his great gold pocket-watch.

I fell a long way. I had a big headache by the time I hit the bottom - hard. I did manage to snatch a book from a falling shelf on the way down, so I had something to do as I fell. (The book was on Uglification. Fascinating!)

Some very strange things happened to me after I landed. I’ve learned to be careful about strange foods, because nearly everything I ate in the strange land disagreed with me in some way! And I now know the dangers of being a cry-baby, and I never want to see a rabbit again!

Oh, yes. I had tea with a mad hatter. And I talked to a mad cat that sometimes didn’t have a whole body. And almost got my head chopped off by a mad queen. Everyone was mad there.

Pardon me, I must run. The looking-glass is…melting.

——

I’m really bored and have nothing to post. That’s why I was Alice today. ;)

Emma

Just finished re-reading Emma by Jane Austen a few days ago.

It took me over a week, but I’m very glad I re-read it. For one thing, I now understand why I didn’t like it at first. For another, I like it much better now! And Jane Austen really deserves re-reads. I noticed and appreciated different things in Emma and Pride & Prejudice the second time. Now, I’m going to interview myself about the book. **SPOILERS AHEAD**

Why didn’t I like it the first time?
I think I thought it seemed too much like reading gossip. We have matchmaking, secret engagements, balls, expected visits, unpleasant people, etc. I read in the introduction by…some person… that Emma is devoid of violence and scandal, such as the Lydia/Wickham thing in Pride & Prejudice, Willoughby in Sense & Sensibility, the accident in Persuasion, and so on. (I can’t think of any more examples, actually. ;) ) I didn’t entirely agree with this since there’s that engagement between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax that shocked everyone, but I think that could be the reason I didn’t like it the first time. ‘Twas just so mild!

What did I notice the second time through?
I noticed many hints of Mr. Elton’s intentions that Emma herself didn’t notice. I recognized Mr. Knightley’s jealousy of Frank Churchill.

I find it so funny that even though it was suggested to Emma (by people wiser than her) that Mr. Elton meant to marry her and not Harriet, and that it seemed very possible that there was some “attatchment,” as Jane Austen says, between Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax, Emma refuses to believe either and is consequently shocked! (I suppose she wasn’t so shocked about Mr. Elton. John Knightley did make her more aware). That’s not exactly what I think is funny, though. The funny thing is that I was just as blind as Emma!

What did I appreciate most the second time?
Mr. Knightley’s confession, definitely. It kind of freaked me out the first time, since he was 16 years older than her…

Well. That was nice, I ought to interview myself more often.

On the Side of the Road

Yesterday we were driving home from a long day in the town we do all our shopping (and most of our socializing) in. My thoughts were doing their usual thing, wandering around in a mysterious pattern, and I was paying little attention to the outside world, when I saw a man standing on the side of the road, holding a sign. People standing on the side of the road with all their worldly belongings and a sign tend to fascinate us, do they not? We have a fixation with misfortune. You agree?

My mom started to pull over, and I could see what the sign said.

“Enuff for a Happy Meal, please?”

My mom handed the man the coins she could find from her purse and said, “Here you go, sir.” Bless her. Kind of reminds me of Les Miserables, when the Bishop calls Valjean, ‘Monsier’: “Monsieur to a convict is a glass of water to a man dying of thirst at sea.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about that sign. How much does a Happy Meal from McDonalds cost? Six dollars? Less? I’ve never even thought about it before.

Gosh, it was so heartbreaking.

The Post That Comes While Listening to Rock Music

I rarely listen to rock music. I prefer mellow, reflective music. I’m trying to decide whether rock music numbs my expression, making it harder to write a blogpost, or whether it brings out ideas and images that would stay hidden while listening to mellower music.

So now, while I’m listening to Fireflight’s album Unbreakable, let’s see what happens.

My sisters and I took our walk to the mailbox today. Our mailbox is about 1 mile from our house, so it’s a good walk. Unfortunately the scenery is nothing special - if you look down there’s dirt road, and if you look up the sun gets in your eyes. Look to the left: Houses, sagebrush, horses. Look to the right: Houses, sagebrush, horses. And maybe some goats.

We talk a good deal, which helps. Today we talked about dragons, and the world’s apparent fixation with them. Take a moment and think about all the fantasy books and series with the word dragon in the title. Then think of the ones that don’t have dragons in the title, but plenty in the story. Then the conversation switched somehow to our favorite dragon story, My Father’s Dragon. It may be written for a young audience, but I need to reread it. We have it and its sequels in one volume somewhere. I have such good memories of reading that book. Perhaps it’s because it’s not about dragons and armor and swords and battles. Not that I don’t like books with swords and battles. I just don’t like them when dragons are involved. But perhaps Eragon is a very poor sampling of dragon-battle-sword book.

I’m re-reading Emma by Jane Austen right now. Look for a blogpost on it when I’m finished. Er… actually… I probably shouldn’t say that. I may be too lazy to think of any thoughts on it when I’m finished. I ought to start taking notes. I’m not very far in, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I have this very strange idea that if I have something pointful (I’m sure I didn’t make that word up. Some other crazy person must have) to blog about, it must be part of its own post, with its own title, and not under some title like The Post That Comes While Listening To Rock Post, which implies rambling and writing whatever comes to mind. So when you see a post title like that, don’t expect much.

Okay. Well, that went better than I expected it to! I didn’t say anything depressing or angry, but no brilliant thoughts came out either. Maybe rock music really does numb my powers of expression.

If Only I Weren't So Wishy Washy!

"You could be king, Charlie Brown!
You could be king!
Lucy: If only you weren't so wishy washy."

Oh, if only I weren't so wishy washy! My blogging loyalties have now been split in half between Blogger and Wordpress. So, here is My Other Blog.

I'll try to keep up with both. You'll be able to check one or the other and read the same things. Unless I decide I like Wordpress better. Or Blogger. Hmm...

P.S. Ahem. In case you hadn't noticed, that link was the first I ever put on a blogpost. "I have solved the mystery!" ~ The Supermarket Mystery.

Writing

I sent in my Lilies of the Field test and composition to be graded. *breathes*

And the test I took on A Secret For Two.

And I'm going to send in my first quarter book analysis on An Old-Fashioned Girl. No, no, no! Not that! I'm so proud of it! It may be the poorest excuse for a 9th-grade essay, but I really like the results! So. I hope I won't be totally crushed by my grade. It was my first big(ish) writing assignment in high-school, and I really liked writing about the story.

I finished my second quarter book analysis on A Christmas Carol yesterday. I CAN CONQUER THE WORLD. :D That was also fun to write about, but am I ever glad I'm finished!

While I'm on the subject of writing, I found a review I wrote of The Shadow of the Bear on a disc of older My Document files. I wrote it on my birthday. (Some people spend their birthdays partying... I spend mine writing book reviews, apparently. Perhaps it will become a tradition.) Here's the first part of it:


' “Once upon a time in New York City,” a widow lived in an apartment with her two daughters. One night they let in a young man who calls himself Bear - and in the City, letting in a stranger when there’s no man in the house to protect the womenfolk can be dangerous. Then, of course, many exciting things happen, many things are discovered, and courage is found in places where crawling away to hide is common.

The Shadow of the Bear is the fairy tale, ‘Snow White And Rose Red’ retold in modern day New York City. Aside from the soft spot for fairy tales and mysteries that I have, what I liked best about the book were the very human heroines, Rose and Blanche Brier: The Brier sisters are attending high school for the first time when the story begins, having been home-schooled for their previous school years. They struggle in the new environment, where most of the girls around them dress immodestly and center their lives around “things of this world.” They have to deal with things real, Christian girls have to deal with - modesty, insecurity, high-school drama, the death of a parent, and bad grades.'

Hmm... there seems to be something wrong with the tenses up in the first paragraph. Alas.

And now, part of an essay I wrote in *cringe* 8th grade. Only a year ago, yet... I can't believe it. The title is "Being Sick." Good gracious. I suppose it was some personal experience or memory essay, but couldn't I have picked something more pleasant to write about? Take a look:

"....I got a bad stomachache at lunchtime, but I didn’t want to go to the office. To “go to the office” seemed to me at that time a very frightening thing. However, by the end of the day, the stomachache was so bad that I told my teacher. By that time it was almost time to go home."

I GOT a bad stomachache. Bleh.

The Supermarket Mystery

One of my favorite books ever is The Supermarket Mystery by Richard Scarry.

Honest.

My mom has had the book since she was a little girl, she's read it to me and my sister many times, and now we read it to my brother. (Even though he prefers books we don't feel like reading to him) I'm surprised I haven't got it memorized. (I promise, I haven't. More Spaghetti, I Say, now that's a different story. But that's sort of a poem, so I'm allowed to quote it sometimes.)

Um... I don't really know why I'm gushing about it right now. I'm exceedingly attatched to it, but I'm not asking you to check it out from your library to read it. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I am not pleased with my computer. It keeps telling me I don't have Java Runtime installed when I DO. I oversaw the installation myself. I was there for the "YOU HAVE INSTALLED JAVA" part! :( And there's no ink in the printer.