Hat Full Of Hope

Maybe you've noticed...

2009-12-23T19:48:00.001-08:00

Maybe you've noticed I haven't been posting here.

Or maybe not. Whatever.

Over the summer it became clear to me that I just don't like this blog anymore. I don't like the way it looks, I don't like the title, I don't like how cluttered it is and on and on and on... I thought it better to simply start fresh.

I've started a new blog that I like much better than this old one. I'll be posting there after the excitement of the holidays die down. So come visit me there! Add it to your sidebar links, follow me, whatever! :)

Pretty Kettle of Fish

By the Sea

2009-06-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at the beach today. "The Beach," whatever beach it may be, will always be one of my favorite places in the world. It never fails to send me into a variety of moods. For a few minutes, it will make me feel like a little girl, and I'll splash through the waves and run across the sand to find a quiet spot to read or write (I had an obsession with quiet spots and hidey-holes when I was younger... I still do). Then watching the sea from afar will put me in a meditative, somber mood, which is good for journaling and writing poetry.

And then when I'm standing on the shoreline, watching a wave approaching, my mind begins to take a more morbid path. "It's coming to take me," I always think, as the wave gets closer.

It doesn't help at all that in one of my favorite murder mysteries, Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers, a body is discovered at the seaside. (I highly recommend the book, by the way. And the miniseries with Harriet Walter and Edward Petherbridge.) Something about the cry of a sea gull will always be linked in my mind with death.

Highlights of this week...

2009-06-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

#4: Playing music from Pride & Prejudice. I get so lost in that music. I start to play, and if everything is quiet and no one disturbs me, I go into a little world of my own. The notes and melodies take on separate personalities, and sort of... talk to each other in my head. Does that sound crazy? Don't answer that.

#3: Watching series two of The Roman Mysteries tv show. It may even warrant a whole blog post of its own.

#2: Catching up with my first ever best friend. I hadn't talked to her in years, because she moved to South Carolina and didn't get any of my emails and lost my phone number (because I also moved). She moved back to CA, and I found her on Facebook last week. It has been so wonderful to talk to her again!

#1: An impromptu concert at an out-of-tune piano. After a music rehearsal for Twelfth Night (at the house of Mrs. V - I've talked about the V's on here before), I sat down at the piano and started playing All I Ask of You, from The Phantom of the Opera. Decently. Little V the Elder came up and began to sing along. This girl is 10 years old and has a VERY strong soprano. She's learning an aria from The Magic Flute in her voice lessons. I absolutely love her, by the way. :D So she was singing, and I kept playing... badly. I get really nervous when people stand over my shoulder while I'm playing. And then this guy, who is, as of that night, our guitarist for Twelfth Night, came up behind me and started singing with Little V. Even worse for my performance at a piano than a sister or friend standing over me, is a perfect stranger. But I decided I didn't care how badly I was playing - as they say, the show must go on. :) Pretty soon even I was singing to my horrible accompaniment, and I was trying not to giggle. There we were: a ten-year-old opera star-to-be, a home-schooled theatre junkie, and a high school guy in a metal band, singing Andrew Lloyd Weber, just... because. Because spontaneity is so lovely.

There was also some rather awful parts of this week, but I won't go into those here. It feels like winter today. I'm even drinking hot cocoa and wearing a sweater... in June...in California!

A Very Merry Unbirthday

2009-05-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to wish a very merry unbirthday to the following people:

Lady Rose
Elenatintil
Vicki and
Serendipity

Graphics: North & South, East of Eden, Sense & Sensibility

2009-05-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Anyone may use these. If you want to use them, try to credit me (and don't claim them as your own. That's really not cool ;) ).

EDIT - And of course Blogger would mess up my formatting. Alas.

The Most Beautiful Picture I Have Ever Seen

2009-05-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

I seem to choose a new candidate for this title every few weeks. I usually find beautiful photos on photography blogs such as this on (the colors! SQUEE!) and this one (by a fellow Chesterton fan, as a bonus). But the other day I stumbled across this photo on Google images, and thought it was simply breathtaking.

I don't know why I love it so much... perhaps because of how quiet it is in its beauty... or perhaps because the girl's hair looks a bit like mine (only prettier).

2009-05-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't felt much like blogging lately, hence the long break. It's been so long that I hardly know what to say now! Just a few quick notes on what's been going on in my life:

- Singing lessons are going well. My teacher has set up an advanced class, so my sisters and I are doing that now. He said to us at our last lesson, "I'm going to make you girls killer singers." :)

- Call me crazy, but I had my sister put my (very) curly hair into roller-curlers last night. I wanted my hair shorter, but I didn't want to cut it. However, my hair is very long and heavy, so I don't know how well this will work. Desirae will be taking out the curlers in a few hours, so I guess we'll see then.

- Rehearsals for Twelfth Night have STARTED! Oh-my-goodness-gracious-heavens-to-Betsy, I am so excited about this play. One of the things I noticed at our read-through a few nights ago is that the story just plays out in a really different way than Comedy of Errors (for those of you who don't know this, I was in that last year). Comedy of Errors was crazy and fast-paced, and all the scenes took place in the same day. Twelfth Night is more stretched out, with quiet scenes and scenes of - almost suspense, but not quite. And another thing I'm excited about: MUSIC! There's going to be a lot of music in the play.

One last thing: Lately I've fallen in love with the music from the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel. Here is one of my favorite songs, The Riddle, with a scene before it with Sir Percy and his friends. WARNING: Some language when Marguerite is talking to Chauvelin. The actual song begins at about 5:56.

A Post Unworthy of A Real Title

2009-04-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hello, folks. :) It's been a while since I've written here. I just haven't had the time I used to have, for simply sitting around at the computer, writing about what I think, or what's going on in my life. And if I ever do have that time, I've been using it to catch up with people I haven't talked to in a while. But mostly, I just haven't had that kind of free computer time. That's what happens in a big family like ours.

As to what's been going on in my life... I've started taking singing classes. I'm really excited about that, because when my sisters and I joined the class, the teacher offered to make an advanced class. I think I'm really going to learn a lot. :)

Also, I've been in rehearsal for a reading (as in, no costumes, no props, little memorization, just familiarization) for the play Steel Magnolias. I get to play Annelle, beauty shop assistant. I get to talk with a Southern twang, which has been very different after my Irish Mrs. Paroo voice - but very fun. Rehearsals for Twelfth Night still haven't started, but I'm pretty certain they will be starting this month!

I should wrap this up now. My mother and I have to think of a plan for today, since my Steel Magnolias rehearsal and her organic produce pickup thing conflict a bit. Have a lovely weekend and a blessed Easter!

Books I Want To Re-Read

2009-03-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but certain images, impressions and emotions are making their way into my mind lately, causing me to want a re-read of the following books:

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
3. Gaudy Night
4. The Perilous Gard

Speaking of Gaudy Night, I had dreams about Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane two nights in a row last week. One of them had to do with parts in Gaudy Night concerning their relationship, and the other was a whole new mystery. Parts of it were quite clever, but parts of it were inevitably ridiculous, though I don't remember any of it now.

Oh - and for those of you who didn't hear about this yet, I did hear from the Twelfth Night people: the play has been moved to the 21st century (I'll decide what exactly I think about this when I learn a little more about it) and I'm to be a back-up singer (for Feste the clown, I assume?). At first I thought I wouldn't like that, since I just finished a musical and what I really want is to do some "real" acting. But after having almost a week to think about it, I'm excited to sing again. Also, it's a lesson in vanity, since I did think I did well enough at the audition to get a bigger role than last year's. But then, I don't know how big this role is yet. The lady who called me wasn't very clear... All I know is that when the director calls to tell me when the first rehearsal is, I'm going to pester him with questions. ;)

And now I can officially make Twelfth Night into a label.

2009-03-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

To everyone who follows and reads my blog: You all deserve an update. I know you do. I've just been lazy about writing one. :)

First off, I still haven't heard from the directors of Twelfth Night, but I was pretty happy with my own audition. I mean, reasonably pleased. I wasn't horrible. At least, I don't think I was... But anyhow, I'm still waiting for a call from the director. :)

Now, I thought this was quite funny:

1: Type in "[your first name] needs" in the Google search:
Delaney needs a miracle.

2: Type in "[your first name] looks" in Google search:
Delaney looks to the future.

3: Type in "[your first name] hates" in Google search:
Delaney hates books. (WHAT!? Well, if this is opposite world...)

4: Type in "[your first name] goes" OR "[your first name] has gone" in Google search:
Delaney goes home.

5: Type in "[your first name] loves" in Google search:
Delaney loves Wisteria Lane (it certainly sounds pretty)

6: Type in "[your first name] eats" in Google search:
Delaney eats orange veggies for the first time.

7: Type in "[your first name] has" in Google search:
Delaney has become a star as a sophomore (*cough* Sure.)

8: Type in "[your first name] works" in Google search:
Delaney works on paper.

9: Type in"[your first name] lives" in Google search:
DELANEY LIVES! REPORTS OF DELANEY'S DEATH ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED! (I'm so glad! Aren't you?)

10: Type in "[your first name] dies" in Google search:
Delaney dies at 63

11. Type in "[your first name] does" in Google search:
Delaney does tricks.

12: Type in "[your first name] will" in Google search:
Delaney will stay in touch with your other doctors.

13: Type in "[your first name] can" in Google search:
Delaney can pose problems.

14. Type in "[your first name] falls" in Google search:
Delaney falls asleep doing dinner.

15. Type in "[your first name] laughs" in Google search:
Delaney laughs at Daddy and the jumping fish.

Bummer

2009-02-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

To everyone who is curious about how those Twelfth Night auditions went... they didn't. Because of weather and illness, they were postponed until the 21st. Which has made me very sad, a little frustrated, and even more nervous than I was before. There seems to be a curse on my auditions. ;) When I was trying out for Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man, we ran out of time and had to audition five days later.

Oh, well. C'est la vie.

Snowy Saturday

2009-02-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

It's snowing - great big, whirling, puffy snowflakes. Not those skinny, close-together, nearly invisible pieces of ice that we usually get.

Since the end of The Music Man (*sniff*) I've had a lot of time for reading. So now I'm reading Wuthering Heights, which is the perfect book for February. Surprisingly, after all the negative things I had heard about the book, I am really liking it. I'm less than halfway through, however, so we'll see. I'm also re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the first time in over three years. I still like it, but it's not worth staying up to the small hours of the morning with a flashlight anymore. (Not that I ever did that with that one... but I can't remember).

My mother made blueberry muffins this morning. Yum. :)

The Twelfth Night auditions is this afternoon! Send up a prayer for me... I'm starting to get a bit nervous.

Monsters, souls and lollipops

2009-02-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

Dad: When I was a youngster, and I would sleep at my aunt's house, she had this big closet that faced the bed, and I always thought there was a monster in it.
4-year-old Noah: (licks his lollipop, looking mildly amused)
Dad: So I would jump out of that bed and SLAM that closet door!
Noah: But Daddy, you didn't have to be afraid! I was with you! I was 'tecting you! ('Tecting = Protecting in 4-year-old language)
Dad: You were? When I was a little boy?
Noah: Uh-huh!
Dad: Hm. Then I guess souls must just be stacked up, waiting to come down. (He goes on about souls for a little while)
Noah: Are you talking about my lollipop?

I guess the term "your soul" could mean anything to someone who doesn't know what it really is.

Leaving River City

2009-02-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

Iowa, I don't know how to leave you
Don't know how to tell you goodbye

-- Alli Rogers, "Iowa"

I am so sad that The Music Man is over. I cried after the last show - I wasn't the only one who did.

I guess I should tell you all how it went. Pretty darn great. I had so much fun in all the shows I was in, as both an ensemble member and my Mrs. Paroo lead. I got to watch the Friday night show and it looked really great.

Favorite moments, onstage and off:

Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn and her off-key singing and Wa Tan Ye dance. She had this great Indian headdress, and she cracked everyone up.

The Sadder But Wiser Girl choreography - I really hate the lyrics, but the choreography was some of the funniest in the show.

Forgetting the money I was supposed to give to Harold in one scene. ACK! :) He kind of breezed through the part where he said "That'll be 17 dollars earnest money," so I don't think anyone noticed, but... *facepalm*

Sitting on the bleachers during 76 Trombones with Marian. In the last show, I was up there with one of the Marians, whispering comments about everything in my Irish accent. When Harold said in the Trouble Reprise, "Remember my friends what a handful of trumpet players did to the famous, fabled walls of Jericho!/Oh, billiard parlor walls come a-tumbling down" I hissed excitedly, "Marian, he reads the Bible!" "Marian" thought that was so amusing that she signed my program "Mama, he reads the Bible!"

Winthrop grinning up at me during "76," showing me his reaction to the idea of a kids' band. Awwwww. It just melted my heart - and it almost succeeded in melting Marian's, but she didn't want Winthrop around the Professor (yes, all of this was going on up there on the bleachers :P )

The Marians making up a parody of My White Knight called My Sweet Pie. It was positively brilliant, and I wish I remembered more of the lyrics! It was something like, "My sweet pie/Not a brownie or a creme brulee/Just something delicious/That I can eat when I'm feeling gray."

Crying after the last show. Oh, dear. So embarrassing, but so funny at the same time.

Praying with a group before two of the night shows.

I'm going to miss everyone so much. :(

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures - though the photographer took some amazing ones, they all cost $6!

On the plus side, the cast party is soon, and auditions for Twelfth Night are this weekend. As if I need to get right into another show asap. ;)

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all

-- The Music Man, Iowa Stubborn

Almost There

2009-01-29T12:10:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is opening night for The Music Man.

We're almost there. I just realized yesterday that this show is going to be pretty amazing. I got to wear a microphone for the first time last night at our dress rehearsal - and it wasn't turned off for 76 Trombones. So when I was singing the last verse with everyone else (in my Irish accent, no less!) my mother said it sounded like a solo. Oops! ;) Good thing the mic didn't pick up on the improvised conversation I was having with "Marian" off stage as we were making our way back to the dressing room. I was reproving her for bringing her book to the River City July 4th event at City Hall.

I know that a full account of the last few days would bore you all to tears. They've been loads of fun, but they lose something in the retelling. But I have to say these last three things:

1) My feet hurt.

2) The City Hall bleachers are the best part of the show. Seriously. When I'm in the ensemble, I get to sit up there during part of Shipoopi clapping and cheering until my hands are red. And when I'm Mrs. Paroo, I get to sit up there with Marian. And I think we just have too much fun up there.

3) I forgot what 3 was...

It's going to be quite a week... (Please pray)

2009-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'd like to ask my lovely readers for their prayers for my family this week. My sister and I are going to the West Coast March for Life this Saturday, which is going to be a long long long day (we'll get up at 3:00 AM to drive to another town and catch a bus with another church). Then the day after that, we have church and Production Week for The Music Man begins. So all next week will be long rehearsals - we'll get home at 11 PM at the earliest each night (we live an hour away from rehearsals and the theatre - yes, I know you'll think us crazy, but it's really not as insane as it sounds.) Then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - PERFORMANCES!

I just don't know where I'm going to find time to rest! Please pray for all of us, my mom (our faithful driver :) ) especially, that we'll be able to find the energy we need, and keep our tempers with each other.

Thanks. :)

EDIT - Turns out that we're not going to the Walk For Life after all. My dad said not until we're at least 18. :P (So no, cuileann, I'm not going to be in your city today. :( ) But this does give me a chance to take it easy before Production Week begins, and I'm very grateful for that!

Get Out Your Clubs

2009-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

I just found this quote.

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -Jack London

I don't have a club, but perhaps a baseball bat would do?

A Word... Or Two

2009-01-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

Some quotes:

"A halfwit is someone who spends half his time trying to be witty." - An irritated Nancy Drew from one of the 1930's movies. Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase, I believe.

"That was really close to... almost average." - Kyle, the Music Man director, after we danced 76 Trombones. Hey, we're getting there. (Speaking of which - one of the shows I'm in is ALMOST SOLD OUT!)

"There is some blue sky, let us chase it!" - Marianne, from Sense & Sensibility (1995 movie)

And, ah, I don't really have any news or anything interesting to write... except that I'm obsessed with the Andrews Sisters right now. I don't know how it happened. My little sister thinks I'm insane, but Desirae is cooperating and sings "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" with me when I want her to. ;) (My mother is actually singing the latter in the kitchen at the moment.)

Goodnight, moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight bowl, goodnight spoon. Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush. Goodnight, little old lady whispering "hush."

Or however it goes...

20 Questions

2009-01-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today my little sister bought an electronic game of 20 Questions, similar to this one, but newer and pink. It works like a regular game of 20 Questions. But this thing is way smarter than any human being. It's creepy. Honestly.

So we've been trying to stump it.

We couldn't do it with "crucifix." My dad got it with "cigarette" which isn't surprising, considering it's a kid's toy. Then...

My dad thought of an object. My sister was reading the 20th question out loud at the dinner table.
Dad: "No."
Sister: "Ok... it's guessing... It guessed a feather."
Dad: "It -" He dropped his fork on the table. "You're kidding."
Sister: "Nope."
Dad: "That's AMAZING! How did it guess feather!?"

So then he was impressed.

Then later tonight, he thought of another object. "Guitar strings?" my sister said after the first question (he was playing his electric guitar at the moment).
Dad: "Don't say it out loud!"
Sister: "Pssh." She continued with the questions.
Then at the twentieth... they were both sure it would be stumped... and!
Sister: "... Ohmygosh. Guitar strings."
Dad: "NO WAY! You typed that in!"
Sister: "No, you can't type on it!"
Dad: "Let me see that. Let me get my glasses. " He got his glasses, peered at the strings, and freaked out. "NO WAY! That's not possible! That's creepy, man! It's because you said it out loud. I'm telling you, it's got a recording device!"

And NOW they're referring to the toy as "he."

Sister: "Oh, I know what you're thinking of. I heard you tell Desirae. HE heard it too.
Dad: "He better not have."
Sister: "I -"
Dad: "If it gets it, it's your fault!"

But Dad still wants to flush it down the toilet. He hates it passionately. "Stump that little pink rat-brain! Does it know what a toilet vortex is?" he told my sister Desirae.

Humor from RinkWorks

2009-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

When I need a laugh, I go to RinkWorks.com

Favorite pages:

Book-A-Minute

Things People Said

In particular:

Courtroom Quotations

Patient Charts

Church Bulletins

Questions Asked Of Librarians

Enjoy!

Planned Reading for 2009

2009-01-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

Clare shared her planned reading list for the new year on her blog, so I decided to do something similar, for those of you who are interested in what I'll be reading during 2009.

I have very few definite ideas:

Definite Idea #1) There are books on my shelf that I must read.
Definite Idea #2) I want to re-read all of Jane Austen's books in order of their publication (unfortunately, these are not on my shelf. :( )

Other than that, I don't know much. Between the classics I have on my list, I'll want to read lighter, easier books, which I'll get from the library when the whim takes me.

Here are some of the books I plan on reading:

01. Manalive G.K. Chesterton (read this one yesterday)
02. The Two Towers J.R.R. Tolkien
03. The Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien
04. The Scottish Chiefs Jane Porter (reading this one now)
05. Story of a Soul Saint Therese
06. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
07. Out of the Silent Planet C.S. Lewis
08. Perelandra C.S. Lewis
09. That Hideous Strength C.S. Lewis
10. Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis
11. The Problem of Pain C.S. Lewis
12. The Temperament God Gave You Art and Laraine Bennet
13. Three Men In A Boat Jerome K. Jerome
14. Shadows On The Rock Willa Cather
15. Saphira and the Slave Girl Willa Cather
16. The Old Curiosity Shop Charles Dickens
17. David Copperfield Charles Dickens
18. Surprised by Joy C.S. Lewis
19. Giants In The Earth O.E. Rolvaag
20. The Everlasting Man G.K. Chesterton
21. Four Faultless Felons G.K. Chesterton
22. Sense & Sensibility Jane Austen
23. Pride & Prejudice Jane Austen
24. Mansfield Park Jane Austen
25. Emma Jane Austen
26. Northanger Abbey Jane Austen
27. Persuasion Jane Austen

Among others.

As for the order I'll read them in... I have a certain fancy for reading Wuthering Heights in February, and the Space Trilogy in March. Silly, I know. :)

[edit] This makes blog post #100!

Goodbye, 2008

2008-12-31T13:28:00.000-08:00

It was a good year. A very good year. I learned a lot - about my faith and myself especially.
I learned that I love to act and need to write.
I learned that I fiercely love being Catholic.
I was in my very first play this year.
I read over 120 books.
I learned and mastered the Shipoopi dance, though it seemed impossible at first.
I made a lot of friends that have taught and helped me - Miss C.N.W., Froggy/Janny, Elenatintil, Lady Rose, BB - I'm looking at all of you! ;)
I kept up with this blog pretty faithfully.
I learned that I prefer sincerity to sarcasm in the long run.

I hope, after all of that, I'm a little wiser. I think I am.

Here's to 2009!

When I Wish I Had My Camera

2008-12-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :) I certainly did, even though I was sick.

Today I was in Barnes & Noble and my sister and I saw a step-stool in the journals section. There was a paper taped onto the stool that made me wish I had my camera with me. It read, "This stool is for stepping and those who need to step. Please do not use as a seat, table or dental instrument."

Huh? My sister and I read it out loud several times, and finally we gave up on trying to figure out what the heck it meant by "dental instrument". Does anyone know? Were they just being snarky?

Um...

2008-12-23T21:25:00.001-08:00

I left one of my writing notebooks on the computer table.
Open.
While my dad was checking the weather forecast.
When I sat down at the computer just now I said, "Uhhhh..." I do dearly hope that no one read any of it.

Please pray for me. I'm grouchy and sick and I can't decide what to read. And I'm driving myself crazy because I want to write but I'm too sick and tired to write anything.

My Hot Cocoa Mug

2008-12-21T11:49:00.001-08:00

This is the cup from which I drink my hot cocoa, tea, or coffee, especially while reading a Father Brown story aloud to my sister. My aunt gave it to my as a Christmas gift last year - my family knows me too well. :)

News That Is New, and AUSTENBOOK!

2008-12-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

News that is new: I'm 16, my throat hurts, The Music Man is on Christmas vacation, and it's cold, cold, cold.

I found this on Ribbons of Light and it's just completely making my night.

Favorite part:

"Elizabeth Bennet and Caroline Bingley are attending the event Take a Turn about the Room." HA!

{edited to add the darn link *facepalm*}

Snow Day

2008-12-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

Today we had a Snow Day. As home-schoolers, we aren't really supposed to have those; but my dad stayed home from work, and Some of Us (*cough*me*cough*) slept in, and Others frittered away in the snow.

This is the snowman Desirae made. She made it on the other side of the house and transplanted it. It appears to be missing a nose in this shot... I think the dog ate it...

This is Zoe, disguised as both Ralphie ("He looks like a pink nightmare,") and Randy ("I can't put my arms dooown!") from the movie, A Christmas Story. Isn't she DARLING? We were all laughing so hard when Courtney stuffed her in this suit.

Our (currently not in use) stable in the snow. Yes, we started to paint it red and never finished...

Superior Scribbler Award

2008-12-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

I forgot about this until now, but my "sister", Miss C.N.W. gave me this award. This girl is so great that she even edited her post to update the title of my blog after I changed it. I'm so excited that I'M GOING TO MEET HER NEXT MONTH!!! In person and not online, I mean. :P Thank you, sis!

Now I award... Gosh, this is hard. I think I'm going to award...

Erin, for her Backstage Musings blog.
And "Rose" of A Rose In Bloom
And "Owan" of Among The Gently Mad

Ok, that's not five, but if I did anymore I'd never be able to stop.

Safe

2008-12-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

I had the following conversation at the dentist's office. We've been going there for years.

Note: All the dentists there are from the Philippines, so you must imagine everything the dentist says with an accent.

Dentist: So... you are almost 16, Delaney?
Me: Uh-huh (I had my mouth open)
Dentist: You have boyfriend?
Me: (In an "oh-dear-what-an-idea voice) Ha, no.
Dentist: (Laughing) You don't want one?
Me: No, not for quite a while yet.
Dentist: Oh, you are so good. Your parents will not have to worry. I wish all teenagers were like you.
Me: ... (I wasn't sure what to say)
Dentist: Maybe in college you will have boyfriend?
Me: Maybe.
Dentist: If you went to The Real School, you would have boyfriends. The boys would be chasing you, because you are very pretty. That is one good thing about home-school: you are safe!

Inside my head I was chuckling and thinking, "Thank you, Lord, I am SAFE!"

New Blog Title and Abundant Harvest

2008-12-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

I've decided to give this blog a new name.

The new name is "Hat Full of Hope," because one of the things that most saddens and frustrates me is seeing people around me who have no hope. No hope for the future of the world, or their life, no hope for their children. People like this always sound depressed and cynical. I'm guilty of feeling hopeless and sarcastic, but I try to fight it, because to be without Hope is not Christian. I may be naive and sheltered, as my dad says, but at least I have hope.

Today my mom had an Abundant Harvest thingummy. What an Abundant Harvest "thingummy" is: People sign up to get a weekly crate of fruits and vegetables from local(ish) farmers, along with add-ons like raw milk, nuts, extra fruit and vegetables, etc. My mom organized it for our town, and today I went with her to the drop. It was very cold, so I sat in the car and took pictures...

Lovely scenery. Well... I think it's lovely. :)

Less than lovely scenery in reflection, and Someone's Truck:

And this is fennel. It tastes like black licorice - no kidding. I like it, though.

That's all I have to say tonight...

Favorite Moments from The Music Man

2008-12-12T15:49:00.001-08:00

Today I did a rather fatal thing. I counted the days left until opening night of The Music Man. Forty-eight, not counting today. I feel like I've eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - now that I know how many days left until we perform, I'll wake up every morning with a new nagging number in my head, unconsciously counting down the days and weeks.

Before it's too late, before I become so sick of this play that I feel like burning my script, I'd like to share my favorite quotes, lyrics and moments from The Music Man.

For some reason, I really really really like this play's music. I'm not exactly sure why. It's not powerful or brilliant in the way that other musicals are. At first it even drove me crazy. But now I've grown to appreciate songs I didn't like, or at least be more tolerant of them (Shipoopi).

So, here are some of my favorite lyrics:

Oh, there's nothin' halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all

-- Townspeople, "Iowa Stubborn."

I'm slightly biased in favor of the "Piano Lesson" song because as Mrs. Paroo, it's sort of "my" song.

When a woman's got a husband
And you've got none
Why should she take advice from you?
Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare
And all them other high-falutin' Greeks!

-- Mrs. Paroo, "Piano Lesson/If You Don't Mind My Saying So"

There's not a man alive
Who could hope to measure up
To that blend o' Paul Bunyan
Saint Pat and Noah Webster
You've concocted for yourself
Outta your Irish imagination
Your Iowa stubborness
And your liberry fulla books.

-- Ditto

Remember, my friends
What a handful of trumpet players
Did to the famous, fabled walls of Jericho!
Oh, billiard parlor walls come a-tumbling down!

-- Harold Hill, "Trouble Reprise/Seventy Six Trombones"

But when I try in here
To tell you, dear
I love you madly, madly
Madam Librarian,
Marian,
It's a long lost cause
I can never win
For the civilized world accepts
As unforgivable sin
Any talking out loud
With any librarian
Such as Marian...

-- Harold Hill, "Marian The Librarian"

My mother laughs every time she hears the following line - she says it reminds her of me.

And if occasionally he'd ponder
What makes Shakespeare and Beethoven great?
Him I could love till I die
Him I could love till I die...

-- Marian Paroo, "My White Knight"

What I like more than the music in the show is its fun dialogue and characters. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the script:

----

ALMA
And there I was in Madison Hospital, and nobody come to see me! Cousin Will never come... Aunt Bertha never come --

ETHEL
Your Aunt Bertha's dead.

ALMA
She wouldn't a' come anyway.

(Our Alma's are fabulous.)

----

MAYOR SHINN
Will you members of the School Board stop bickerin' in public?

(I don't know why this line always makes me laugh)

----

ALMA
Oh, professor Hill, we're all agog - simply agog!

(Ever since I listened to Les Miserables, the word "agog" has made me giggle.)

----

ZANEETA, the Mayor's daughter
Papa, please! It's Capulets like you who make blood in the marketplace.

Later in the same scene...

MAYOR SHINN, to Harold
I'll settle your hash as soon as I get these premises offa' my oldest girl.

----

(I love all of Charlie Cowell, anvil salesman's great phrases. "They are gems," as my director says. )

CHARLIE COWELL
I got the goods on him in spades. Swindlin' two-bit thimble rigger.

A few lines later

CHARLIE COWELL
Mistake my old lady's corset cover! That fella's been the raspberry seed in my wisdom tooth just long enough.

(Brilliant... absolutely brilliant. I must start using the phrase "raspberry seed in my wisdom tooth" more often.)

----

MAYOR SHINN
And always remember, fellow River Citizens, I can only remind you that I did everything in my power to prevent this dire happening from - ah - happening.

----

Honorable Mention: The song that is way too much fun to make fun of.

"Till There Was You." The melody is beautiful, but the lyrics are lame.

I Don't Even Want To Know What My Dreams Say About Me

2008-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have weird dreams. Weird, weird dreams. Last night I had a weird one. I won't go into all of it, but in part of it, James Dean came to a Music Man rehearsal (anyone who regularly reads my blog will know how perfectly logical it is that I should have a dream about a celebrity visiting us). In the dream, Dean had recently lost his father and so refused to talk about East of Eden (which is mainly about a young man's relationship with his father). From what I know about James Dean as a person, the guy in my dream was very much like how he really was - not entirely pleasant.

Then I woke up and remembered that James Dean is dead, and that even if he were alive he would have been over seventy. I was sad and it put me in the mood to watch East of Eden again. The DVD is on my Christmas list... Here is a scene from the movie that I like a lot. I wouldn't say it's my favorite scene in the movie, but I do like it quite a lot.

Haha... silly Abra. "HI, CAL! Aron isn't here so I'm free to flirt shamelessly with my boyfriend's brother! Whee!" No, I'm kidding. I like Abra very much.

Long version:

Short version, for those who don't have the patience to watch all five and a half minutes!

Hmm, what else do I have to say tonight? I can't think of anything, so I'll leave this post hoping that you all don't think I'm a fangirl for having a dream about James Dean. Because I'm not. I'm a Cal Trask fangirl sometimes, that's all. ;)

Gandalf the Yellow-haired

2008-12-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Noah, my four-year-old brother, after watching an animated movie of The Hobbit: "Could you put on my cape?"

I said, "Sure. Do you want the Superman S facing in, or out?"

Noah said, "In. 'Cause Gandalf doesn't fly."

I straightened up and grinned at my sister. "Oh!" I said, "Are you Gandalf?"

"Yep," said the little wizard in the Superman cape, "Only I'm a different kind of wizard, with a sword and shield. I'm a boy Gandalf."

Then a few minutes later, I saw him wearing a red Santa hat. It was his wizard hat, of course! "But it doesn't stay up very good," he admitted to me.

Then for part of today he was St. Michael the Archangel. With a spear, so he could "poke the devil."

Baby's First Word, among other things

2008-12-02T13:11:00.001-08:00

My baby said her first word yesterday. I'm excluding the word "Mama" as her first word because she uses it more as a wail than a word ("Mamamamamama..."). Last night my brother had a box of the ice cream treat known as Dibs, little pieces of chocolate with ice cream inside. Zoe saw my sister eating one of these and somehow identified them as ice cream (yes, we feed our one-year-old baby ice cream). "Ice?" she said to Noah, holding out her hand. Only it sounded more like "ishe." Aww.

This morning my brother had me tell him the first part of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Lucy, Edmund and Eustace fall into the water and Caspian saves them. Fast-forward 20 minutes: I came out of my room to find two of my sisters thrashing about on the floor while Noah called out, "You don't see me yet, you have to hear a splash first." He made a splashing noise and proceeded to rescue them and bring them aboard the Dawn Treader.

Now for Katie's meme. Sorry it took me so long!

1. pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
The Once And Future King by T.H. White

2. Open to page 123

3. Find the fifth sentence:

4. Post the next three sentences:
"One of these paths ended at a clod with a natural hollow underneath it. In the hollow - again with the strange appearance of aimless purpose - he found two dead ants. They were laid there tidily but yet untidily, as if a very tidy person had taken them to the place, but had forgotten the reason when he got there."

So that's random. Dead ants, woohoo. Part One of The Once And Future King (The Sword In The Stone) is very random like that.

I thought I had some other news to tell, but I guess I haven't.

Oh. Yes. I have to have Act 2 of Music Man memorized tomorrow. Eeeeeeek! Actually, it's not a big deal. I have only a handful of lines to learn in Act 2, and I know them.

I Love You People

2008-11-24T23:00:00.000-08:00

I came home from an interesting Music Man rehearsal to find myself awarded on my dear Lady Rose's blog, tagged by Katie, and begged to update by the same. You dear, dear people certainly know how to make a person feel loved. So Katie, I will do your meme the next time I get on the computer, because the nearest books are all schoolbooks. :P

Lady Rose awarded me this lovely award on her blog:

Thank you! I award... ah... Elenatintil, Leigha, Serendipity, Miss C.N.W., Olivia, The Real Katie, and Alyosha.

Now, some updates: I mentioned that we had an interesting Music Man rehearsal tonight. Let me tell you about that...

Last week, our musical director told us that we would have a "special guest" tonight. "He's had a lot of experience, and you're going to like him," she promised. Tonight, before my younger sister's rehearsal, we were talking to a friend of hers. "You're in for a surprise tonight," she said. "You mean you know who the special guest person thingy is?" (That was his nickname before we knew who he was: Special Guest Person Thingy.) "Yeah, but I can't tell," said the friend. That was only mildly aggravating.

Then my sister and her friends went in, and some of my group people arrived. So we were all talking about character shoes and movies and dancing and such, when we heard the younger crowd screaming inside as the real special guest person thingy entered. So one of the girls peeked in... and saw a guy standing on the stage. "That's him? I don't recognize him," she said. I peeked. "That's what they were screaming about?" I thought, "Hmm..."

Then I started talking to people again. And another scream was heard. The girls peeking in the window jumped back with a gasp. "Oh... it's... it's..."

Then one girl said, "Oh no! I really don't like High School Musical!"

Yes. It was Corbin Bleu, from High School Musical. There was general pandemonium outside, ranging from, "Noooooo!" to "Hm... wow..." and "Really?" Then more people arrived, peeked, and shrieked and "Corbin Bleu is here!!!" was whispered constantly for the next 15 minutes.

So, yeah. He gave a talk on theatre and acting, and answered questions (among them, "Is that your real hair?" HA) which was neat. And a lot of people went up and got his autograph. And we danced the Shipoopi for him. Hahaha... yeah, that's coming along pretty well, actually. :) But... the screaming... squealing... whispering. Fans scare me.

AND THEN came the really exciting part. ;) We learned part of "Marian the Librarian"!!! I was so excited to learn that the ensemble gets to dance in that song! I was beginning to think we wouldn't. That dance is probably going to be my favorite. That, and "Trouble." :)

I got some cavities filled today. My teeth are still in pain... but the dentist said that I'll probably have "sensitivity" for the next two weeks to two months. Fun. My mouth was numb for about two hours. I had a lot of fun poking, scratching and pinching my chin to see if I would feel anything at all. I didn't. :D (Yes, I get enjoyment out of strange things.)

Have a lovely week, everyone!

Happenings

2008-11-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm hard-hearted: On Saturday after my sister's soccer game, someone came to the field with a box full of puppies marked "Free." The kids picked up the puppies, annoyed their parents to ask if they could keep them, and apparently the lady considered the dogs as "claimed." As far as I can gather from my mom and sister's versions of the tale, my mother told Courtney to put the dog she had picked up back in the box, but the lady had already put the box away and said she wasn't going to take it. So off Courtney went to my mom again - she again said no. But the lady was gone. GAH. So we were the owners of this puppy for about 20 hours. I didn't want to keep it, although my sisters did call upon me to name it (Elinor, or "Ellie."). And then of course I was accused of being "mean" because I didn't want it... Ah, well. We found a home for it with a family that I like very much. I'll call them the V's.
Mrs. V is the dramaturg for my town's Shakespeare Festival. She ... knows a lot about Shakespeare. And literature. And she does NaNoWriMo every year!
Mr. V is a musician - he leads the community band. He's played on movie soundtracks such as Ratatouille and Pirates of the Caribbean - and on the Focus on the Family Narnia productions. So they got those for free, I think. Way cool.
Little V the elder knits and acts - she and her cousins put on their own Thanksgiving Shakespeare Festival each year. This year she's playing Katerina/Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew. She and Little V the younger are in The Music Man with me, and she played the Duke in The Comedy of Errors.
Little V the younger loves piggy-back rides. We established this as a fact on July 4th, 2008. After a long, hot Comedy of Errors rehearsal, both of our families drove up to a nearish town to watch fireworks. We sat around for a few hours waiting for them, and in that time I swordfought with both Little V's, gave them piggy-back rides, spun them around, etc. Quite fun. And she looks like Georgie Henley sometimes.

They have a dog named Curly who has, as Mrs. V said, fallen in love with Ellie or Spicy as they have named her (she is a sort of spicy color :) ). So I don't feel bad at all about not wanting her. :P

I woke up this morning at six o'clock with a stuffy nose and the kind of sore throat that makes you feel like you're going to swallow your whole throat when you gulp. So I got up, nodded sleepily to my parents (dad leaves for work very early) and made myself a cup of chamomile tea. My mother made me take some Airborne (gag), which I managed somehow, between a cup of water and a box of crackers. It was a mild lemon-lime flavor - definitely not as nauseating as the orange stuff I took last year. Blech. So I drank my tea and went back to sleep for a few hours, and woke up feeling a bit better. Then at around 2 o'clock I lost my voice. I've never lost my voice before. It was very strange: I would try to say something, and finally just give up because I could barely hear myself. I was very worried, since we had a Music Man rehearsal tonight; but I drank a lot of special Throat Coat tea, and I feel a bit better now.

On Wednesday we Music Man leads had our first run-through of Act 1: with double and triple cast characters, this was interesting. It usually meant that whoever was more prepared would do one scene or another, and both the Harold Hills and Marians did their songs together for extra practice. I had a lot of fun doing a scene with one of the Harold Hills. We had blocked it, but never acted it out before, so it was fun to experiment a little. But my favorite moment was watching Marian the Librarian. Some of the cutest blocking I've ever seen, involving the Harolds lying down and folding their arms over their chest at "I could lie on your floor unnoticed, till my body had turned to carrion." I'm used to the movie, so I just about fell off my seat laughing. Next favorite was watching one of our Alma's do a small scene in the middle of Iowa Stubborn: "And there I was, in Madison Hospital, and no one come to see me!" Both of our Alma's are small 12-year-olds with POWERFUL voices. So it's a lot of fun to watch them.

I'd love to sit here and type up the whole evening (I've committed much of it to memory) but I'm being told to get off the computer now. Have a lovely week, everyone! :)

Dead Tired

2008-11-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

Some things to say before I drop off to sleep in front of the keyboard:

We had a long, hard rehearsal tonight. I can't remember my Iowa Stubborn alto harmony for the life of me whenever we start singing. The sopranos have it so easy. Bleh. We worked on partner dancing tonight. My cousin Lindsay was my partner first, which was fine because we both know the dance, and we're about the same height. But then I danced with a boy who was a good deal shorter than me, so his elbow angle was obtuse where it ought to have been right. (Yes, I'm doing Geometry this year...)

During my little sister's rehearsal, I got to stand around for about 45 minutes with my town's Shakespeare Festival's "dramaturg," talking Shakespeare. AND NANOWRIMO!!! I'm not doing NaNo this year (I'd love to try it... maybe next year) but as I know so many who are participating, and follow their wordcount status eagerly, I was SO thrilled to learn that she is participating - and has for years! And she's gotten to 50k every time. Wow. Her 9 or 10-year-old daughter who played our duke in Comedy of Errors is also doing NaNo. :D

My very wonderful confirmation class teacher gave all of her students little pro-life pins. The exact replica in size and shape of an unborn baby's feet at 10 weeks after conception. The pin is titled "Precious Feet" for good reason. When I showed my four-year-old brother, he asked why I was wearing it. How can you explain "pro-life" and abortion to a four-year-old? So I just said, "To show that I love all the babies in mommies' tummies." Well, it's true.

Um... I think that's all I have to say tonight. ;)

Et Cetera

2008-10-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

I read yesterday that Martin Luther wanted to get rid of the book of James from the Bible because of chapter 2 verses 24 and 26:

"You see that a person is justified by his works and not by faith alone... As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead."

Obviously this doesn't jibe with his Sola Fida doctrine. *hugs the book of James tightly* But since I'm Catholic I would have had it in a bible eventually anyways. ;) I say eventually because for the first 13 years of my life I was Protestant and might never have known there was an epistle of James (not that I knew what an epistle was till last year. I guess I thought it was something similar to an apostle...)

I went to my friends' birthday party today (some of you may know Hannah and Lainey). 'Twas much fun. :) I was rather singled out by their 3-year-old brother and heard a great deal about his brother's Legos. Some of the conversation was really priceless. He told me about his father's many tools and cool garage. "Does your daddy do cool stuff?" he asked me. "My daddy plays guitar," I said, smiling. "My daddy has a cartar!" he told me excitedly. Hehehe! My brother just calls them "'tars." And my sister Courtney used to call them "kintars."

Speaking of funny children, we have all these old video tapes of me singing my little heart out when I was three years old. First it was Over The Rainbow. Dressed in a Dorothy dress, of course. I remember one time I walked into the playroom at a Christmas party and announced to the rowdy looking boys climbing on the toys that I was Dorothy Gale from Kansas. "Dorothy WHALE" they taunted. I wasn't hurt. Just a little confused and indignant. Mostly indignant. I left the room and didn't bother my head about them anymore. Silly boys.

Next it was Bye Bye Birdie. My mom was in the show when I was 3 or 4 (she was in a little group of back-up singers for Conrad Birdie), and so she had the old movie. I really liked that opening song (now I can't stand it). We have videos of me singing loudly and mournfully that there was "no more sunshine/It followed you away."

Then, around the same time, my parents had me advertise little boxes of food and such and do pretend commercials.
Me: Would you like to buy this... (Mom, prompting, "Mango tea,") Mango tea?
Dad: Well, tell me why I should.
Me: 'Cause... it's MANGO TEA! And it's very sweet, it has licorice in it.

Ah, licorice. I never considered using it as a sweetener... Then next:

Me: Would you like to buy this diet cooowke? (Said with an English accent. I don't know WHERE it came from) It's very healfy. 'Cept it has cawffeine in it. (Again, don't know where the accent came from. Too many movies, maybe?)

I guess I've always had a bit o' the stage in my soul, hm?

Oh, yes: For those of you interested in my Music Man adventures, rehearsals are coming along fine. I'm even getting the dances down. Not doing them well, I admit, but at least I sort of know what I'm supposed to be doing. ;) We blocked "Piano Lesson" on Wednesday. One of the best things about having double or triple cast characters is watching the other actors doing what you're supposed to do, and seeing how it looks. And that scene really looks so fun.

Desert Island

2008-10-22T22:52:00.001-07:00

I'm very sorry I haven't been posting. I've been lazy, busy, tired, etc. ;) BookButterfly tagged me over at her blog, and it looked like a lot of fun. Katie of Shakespeare And Showtunes (a blog after my own heart) also tagged me for a Six Random Things meme, and I will get around to that one soon, I promise! Thanks, Katie and BB!

Beware: it's getting late and I'm exhausted and a little silly.

Rules:
1. List the 10 books/collected works/series that you would bring on a desert island.
2. (Optional) Say why you would bring them.
3. Link to the person who linked to you.
4. Tag 6 people to also do the meme.
5. Leave a comment to let those people know.

1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church. What if I were stranded on a desert island with an expectant mother and she was going to miscarry the baby and I forgot how to baptize it!? ;) Or what if this mother were an atheist? I would need my Catechism, because debates would be inevitable.

2. The Bible, I should think that ought to be enough said, but besides being divinely inspired and spiritually helpful and all the already-amazing stuff, it's really great literature.

3. The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton. That's fifty volumes. And if they get wet I am KILLING that ocean. Wait... never mind. Forget I said that.

4. Les Miserables. I can open it up at random and read something that I love.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia. They really shaped my imagination, and I couldn't go too long without at least knowing they were there.

6. The Lord of the Rings. I am STILL reading Fellowship of the Ring, and I would go crazy knowing I got stranded on this island before finishing it.

7. Regina Doman's books: The Shadow of the Bear, Black As Night, Waking Rose, and The Midnight Dancers. Because I love them very much.

8. The Complete Works of Shakespeare! It would be so hard for me to live without Shakespeare. And I pity that expectant mother I might be stranded with. Because whether I had the Complete Works or not, I'd be doing a lot of quoting.

9. The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. I don't believe I will ever get tired of it.

10. Shadowplay by Clare Asquith, because I haven't read it yet, and I have such a beautiful copy of it.

I tag... I tag... The Real Katie, Courtney, and Lanta and Bridget of Random Profound Thoughts.

I Need A Cookie

2008-10-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

I just caught a whiff of something tantalizing and totally imaginary: a peanut butter cookie. There are no peanut butter cookies in this house, and yet I could have sworn that I smelled something like it.

I need a peanut butter cookie. :( I made some very good ones using chocolate cake mix. They stayed chewy forever. Well, you know, until I ate them all...

Irish Imagination and Iowa Stubborness

2008-09-22T23:18:00.000-07:00

Another Music Man rehearsal. This time we learned Iowa Stubborn. Very fun!

Oh, there's nothing halfway about the Iowa way to treat you
When we treat you, which we may not do at all.

I admit I was wondering whether they would change the "And we're so by God stubborn we can stand touching noses" part. They changed Zaneeta's "Ye Gods!" to "Ye Gads!" which is understandable, but "Ye Gods!" isn't as bad in a Christian children's performance as "by God..." They did change it - to "Gosh darn stubborn." Haha. I'm wondering what they'll do about Mayor Shinn though. "If I ever catch you touching my daughter again I'll by God horsewhip you till hell won't have it!" is a line I wouldn't want my brother to say, but it takes the fun out of it if it's only "I'll gosh darn horsewhip you."

We also did some extra audition preparation, and I tested my Irish accent for Mrs. Paroo on my cousin and sister.

Snobby moment of the day: In the car, my mother put on some alphabet music for my brother. It was very loud. I was trying to listen to my classical music.

"Can you please turn that down?" I asked, "I can't hear my Shostakovitch."
"Well, la di da," my mom teased.
But even better and more important than Shostakovitch was Brahm's Hungarian Dance... and George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue! Ah, I do love that song.

Awarded

2008-09-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

My dear friend (and Fairy Tale Forum "auntie"), Lady Rose presented me with this award.

Thanks so much, auntie! :D

Now, for who I want to give this award to... that's hard. I want to award it to everyone who visits my blog, really. Every comment you leave here really makes my day. Q is my very most faithful commenter, and I don't return the favor on her blog half enough! Grace's comments are always very long and full of life and joy - it's infectious, really. ;) Alyosha's comments nearly always make me snigger, and make me see things in a more Phlegmatic-Melancholy light that's good for me when my brain is like it is now (drowning in hot cocoa). And I always love hearing from my dear sister (ok, adopted online sister, but we really are sisters in Christ!) Miss C.N.W. and my adopted "Mother," Elenatintil.

But I think who I'd really like to give this award to is Courtney, a girl I met through the blogging world, by idly looking through the profiles of Bloggers who listed Bella in their favorite movies. As soon as I saw the banner at the top of Courtney's blog that said, "As for my and my blog, they will serve the Lord" I kept reading. She's a kindred spirit and when she leaves a comment on my blog, it brightens my day. Not only does she comment on what I've written, but she usually asks further questions and I always feel she's interested in my thoughts. Thanks, Courtney!

And many thanks to the rest of you "super commenters!"

He's a Music Man!

2008-09-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

Last night my sisters and I went to our first rehearsal for The Music Man! It's an all-kids cast (grades K-12) with 29 leads/soloists, all (or nearly all) double-cast. Since it's a workshop thing, the auditions haven't happened yet. "Audition Preparation Night" is tomorrow, and the first auditions are on Sept. 24th. My sisters and I - and my mother - are all excited about this. For my sisters, it's their first play, and for me it's my first musical and my first experience with choreographed dancing. That's going to be the hardest part, but it will be good for me.

In other news, I'm going to change the name of my blog to something else. Something longer, something nicer, something more "me." Probably something from Shakespeare, or literature. I'm open to suggestions! On a side note, I discovered that "Voices" is the title of a Catholic women's magazine! :)

School is going mostly well. I dislike Geometry, but we get along alright most days. My history book is great, English is challenging, and Biology is easy and sometimes interesting, but it just doesn't interest me personally.

I finally finished Henry IV and The Hidden Treasure of Glaston - I liked them, but it felt like I was reading them forever! ;) Now I'm working on Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton, and I'm reading Father Brown stories aloud to my sister. We both love them.

Scholarly Chatter

2008-09-08T21:55:00.001-07:00

Today was my first day of 10th grade. And technically my last day of 9th, since I finally got everything uploaded today. I didn't actually start working until after lunch because I was so busy with cleaning out last year's binder, finding and labeling new binder tabs, and smelling my books. And opening them to hear the spines crack - what a lovely sound. All my books are so fresh and new that I even have fond feelings for my Geometry and Biology textbooks. I'm really excited about my history course. I'm using the book Christ the King, Lord of History, which I like very much so far. I'm planning to find at least one historical fiction book to go with each time period/country I study - so any suggestions would be very helpful (with time periods ranging from 2000 B.C. to about World War II, mostly set in Europe or the Middle East). :) My Religion course looks HARD. English looks very challenging, and I'm excited about that, but I'd be more excited if I were going to be studying another Shakespeare play this year. Well, next year I shall hopefully take Seton's Shakespeare elective. :)

Latin is... meh. Some days I love it, some days I hate it.

This looks like it's going to be a tough year - pray for me, please. That's one of the things I love most about Seton. They encourage starting the school-day off with prayer, prayer before each subject, prayer if you get stuck. This prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas was in the introduction to my Religion course, and I love it:

Creator of all things,
true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen understanding,
a retentive memory, and
the ability to grasp things
correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent
of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myself
with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning,
direct the progress,
and help in the completion.

I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Onto My Blogroll and Into the Wild

2008-09-05T23:59:00.001-07:00

I'm super excited about Elenatintil's latest film project, and the update blog for the movie can finally officially go on my blogroll.

The Shadow of the Bear: The Movie

I'm really really excited about it. I try to control myself a little bit on the internet, but I'm very really very really excited. ;)

I bought Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst (to say nothing of Manalive by G.K. Chesterton - a hearty "huzzah!") today, and I really liked it. I hope to write a review of it sometime this coming week, but I shall make no promises.

I just had a sort of realization about the play King Lear, which I have been discussing with Alyosha. I'll just write what I said to her:

"I think in the scene just before [Lear and Cordelia are] taken away [to prison] is the only time when God's name is used as God, and not gods and goddesses, which are called upon, spoken to, talk about, and prayed to many times throughout the play."

I could be wrong, but it seems an interesting fact, since Lear is saying to his daughter that they will "live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them too," in prison, and then says, "And take upon’s the mystery of things, as if we were God’s spies" In other parts of the play that would be worded, "the spies of the gods." It might merely have to do with syllables and lines or something like that, but it's still interesting.

Speaking of Shakespeare: For my performance as "the person who comes out at the end to report that 'that guy' is coming," I am famous! There was a kid at one of our home-schooling group's Park Day (in another town) who was discussing "the Shakespeare festival." "Oh, where?" I asked. "[Town Name]" "I was in that!" And then he said, yeah, I was the person who comes out at the end, et cetera. "Did you also see You Can't Take It With You?" I asked, beginning to recognize him. "Yeah, I sat right next to you." Oh, yeah. He had this absolutely adorable little sister, and during an intermission she came up to him to ask him to open a bag of chips, and I asked if she was his sister. Life's funny. I saw their family three times on that weekend they were in town (You Can't Take It With You, my church, and Comedy of Errors) and never expected to see them again. Yes, life's funny and I'm "famous!" ;)

I think this is all I have to say. No, wait! My sister and brother have their first soccer games tomorrow! That's kind of exciting, because I actually want to see them. My sisters because she's really great. You should see her when she gets the opposing teams' legs all tangled up. And my brother's because he's four and none of the kids know the rules of soccer or have had any practice. How adorable. :D

A New Post

2008-09-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, news in my life:

King Lear is my new favorite Shakespeare play. Did you know that at one point in the stage there are four dead bodies onstage all at once? Um... not that dead bodies are my reason for loving the play... hehe.

I'm reading Henry IV, Part One. Falstaff is funny and annoying.

My sister said I'm probably going to marry a beast. As in THE Beast. "I mean, you've got the books and everything, and there'll be this guy who wants to marry you but you'll freak him out with how much you read, and then you'll meet this Beast, and he'll like to read so you'll just ... marry him. And turn him into a human." She makes me laugh.

This is pretty hilarious:

The Man Who Speaks in Anagrams from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Read it here

My favorite part is "The Mating of the Wersh."

Oh, wait, and "Twelfth Thing"!

And...

'Be ot or bot ne ot, tath is the nestquoi.'

OH MY WORD!

P.S. When we went to see an Old Time Radio Show thing, they did some Monty Python, and among the scripts they read were the following:

The Arguement
Dennis Moore (They spelled lupines wrong, I think! *sigh*)
The Pet Shop

Crazy, eh?

I thought I would have something interesting to say here, but apparently not. So the title of this post sums it up very well, I think.

Correction

2008-08-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Lady Rose's answer to question number 21 on the questionaire I did a few days ago made me reconsider my own answer:

What do you do most often when you are bored? I put read, but I really don't, because when I'm bored, it's because I can't settle down to anything, not even to a book. So what I do is wander around the house and read Shakespeare - Shakespeare is really good for my boredom.

A "real" post - or at least something more than the random short things I've been writing lately will come soon. About interesting things. "What they are, yet I know not: but they shall be the terrors of the earth." - King Lear.

"Your very first tragedy!"

2008-08-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

There's a part in Wicked where Galinda is practically hyperventilating over the fact that Elphaba just attended, "her verrrryyy fiiirrrst partyyyyy.... ever!" to which Elphaba replies, "Do funerals count?" I felt the same way today when a friend on the board of directors of my town's little Mountain Shakespeare Festival was telling us about last night's meeting. This group has only been in existence for a few years, and it's done only comedies so far. So when Holly told us they were thinking of doing King Lear next year, I felt like both of those lines smashed together. Ha ha. :D

Amusing Algebra

2008-08-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Teaching Textbooks: Algebra 1:

"Dryer #1 ate a few socks, but only a few, and dryer #2, the semi-selfish one, had the nerve to eat 4 more socks than #1. However, it was the last dryer - dryer #3 - that was the virtual sock-eating monster. In its short but turbulent life, it actually consumed 7 more socks than #2 did. If all three dryers ate a total of 51 socks, how many did dryer #1 eat?"

This is my kind of problem. It's weird and random and easy.

Questionaire

2008-08-27T15:58:00.000-07:00

I found this on Courtney's blog and decided to fill it out.

1. Time: 3:30

2. Name: Delaney

3. Nicknames: Fauny, Faunsy, Faunius - but only by internet friends

4. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater: Kit: An American Girl. Yes, I know it's for younger girls, but it's set in the 30's!

5. Eye color: Blue.

6. Place of birth: California... in the San Fernando Valley.

7. Favorite NEW foods: What the heck is a "new" food? Food is food, it's been around since the beginning of time. It played an important role in the first sin! How can any food be "new?" I mean, I know there weren't cheeseburgers when Thomas Aquinas was alive, but how new is "new?"

8. Ever been to Africa: No.

9. Been in a car accident?: Ah... no, not that I recall.

10. Croutons or bacon bits: Croutons

11. Favorite day of the week: Wednesday, I think. One of the days for the Glorious Mysteries in the Rosary. And I like the name of it. (I know a girl named Wednesday)

12. Favorite restaurants: Marie Calendar's. They have the most delicious potato-cheese soup.

13. Favorite Flower: Oh, my. I like simple wildflowers, and daisies, and all kinds of roses. Oh, yes. Lupine! ("Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore, riding through the night/Soon every lupine in the land will be in his might hand/He steals them from the rich/And gives them to the poor/Mr. Moore" Here)

14. Favorite sport to watch: Soccer... my sister plays it.

15. Favorite drink? Um... water. Coffee. Hot cocoa. Many kinds of tea. Apple juice and grape juice and pineapple-orange-banana juice, or orange-strawberry-banana juice, or orange-pineapple-mango juice.

16. Favorite ice cream: Chocolate chip, mint chip, strawberry, cookie dough, mocha almond fudge

17. Disney or Warner Brothers: I have no idea...

18. Favorite fast food restaurant: In 'N' Out

19. What color is your bedroom carpet: Dark green, with some blueishness in it.

20. Which store would you choose to Max out your credit card this week? I don't have a credit card, but I guess I'd say Barnes & Noble or Borders.

21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read.

22. Bedtime: ... Lately? Uh.... hehe... 12:30. Or thereabouts. That's all going to change quite soon!

23. Favorite TV shows: The Andy Griffith Show and Monk and some Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, and Bewitched. Sometimes.

24. Person you are going to have dinner with: My family or maybe Hugh & Dickon (which means that if we don't have a sit-down-together meal, I'll read The Hidden Treasure of Glaston while I eat)

25. Favorite Car: I know very little about cars.

26. What are you listening to right now: audio Clips from Monty Python. So weird...

27. What is your favorite color: Greens.

28. How many pets do you have: I don't remember... I think we're down to one dog and one rat. Yeah, that sounds right.

29. What are you doing this weekend? Cleaning, schoolwork, church, reading, and going to town for a little shopping, maybe.

30. Favorite book: Currently? Les Miserables.

31. What is your middle name: Joyce

32. Who is your favorite author(s): C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Jane Austen, Regina Doman, Dorothy Sayers, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Shannon Hale, Megan Whalen Turner, and I don't know who else.

33. Favorite music to listen to (artists, style, etc.): Relient K, Nichole Nordeman, Alli Rogers, Waterdeep, Katie Herzig, Andy Gullahorn, most classical music... I'd like to say all, but it's not as if I've heard ALL of it, so... Showtunes, lots of showtunes: Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Wicked, The King and I, Annie, Oliver!, Bye Bye Byrdie, The Sound of Music, The Phantom of the Opera, (I don't own all of these soundtracks, but these are the musicals my family and I sing music from around the house)

Farewell

2008-08-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

My book review blog "Books and Windows" is going to a better place. Well... erm... if you call cyberspace a better place. I'm going to put some of the reviews from there onto this blog over the next few days, and steal Elenatintil's (very good) idea and link to each review on my sidebar.

So if you ever read and liked one of my reviews on B&W, please tell me if there's any special review you'd like saved on here.

And a review of The Midnight Dancers is coming soon. It's practically finished, the only thing that keeps me from publishing it is the fear that it doesn't do the book justice. ;)

The Palamino - A Rant (Sort of )

2008-08-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

First off, let me say that I really have no business reading The Palamino by Katy Pistole. It's a Christian-preteen-horse-story. Christian novels = haven't read too many, but if all of them are as "mushy" (for lack of a better word; I don't mean as in romance) as this one, I'm not too interested. Preteen = Well... I'm not one. Horse-stories = Been there, done that. Not really my thing anymore.

However, I did read the book when I was 12 or 13. Devoured it, really. Then my mum found the second book at the local thrift store: I read about 10 of the 19 chapters aloud to my sister before my throat went hoarse and I agreed to let her finish it on her own. We liked that one, too. Then I reread it when I was 14 and it seemed a little flatter. But it wasn't until my 11-year-old sister read it that I realized something:

It's silly.
In a fun way that I don't mind too much, but nevertheless, it's preteen fiction that's a little over-the-top sometimes.

I was walking by my sister's bedroom, and asked her how she liked the book so far. "It's pretty good," said she, marking her place, "But there sure are a lot of tears running down peoples' faces, aren't there?" I laughed, "Yeah, I guess there are." "It's like, 'Tears ran down Jenny's cheeks, tears ran down Jenny's mother's cheeks, tears ran down Jenny's father's cheeks, tears ran down Kathy's cheeks.' I'm drowning here!" I giggled and told my other sister, who also giggled.

My little sister read the second book and pointed out even more of those very active tears.

I tried to read the third book, but at fifteen... well... you know. I just couldn't bring myself to get past the first page. Maybe someday, to prove that I'm not ashamed to read Christian horse-stories. Because there's nothing really WRONG with the books: they're just... as I said, a little over-the-top.

Camera Happy

2008-08-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Our home altar:

Baby Zoe, trying to wave and hold onto a cookie at the same time:

My shadow, tiptoeing away from me!

There it is, on the rock:

Our five-headed lamp that we found in the Goodwill. When I first saw my mom carrying it over, I said, "It's a Hydra-lamp!" It's not exactly, but that's what I call it.

Our Wicked program, signed by Michael Drolet (Boq), Derrick Williams (Fiyero), Erin Mackey (Glinda), Briana Yacavone (Nessarose), Jo Anne Worley (Madame Morrible) and David De Vries (Dr. Dillamond).

Piano music my sister and I enjoy playing:

Chesterton Academy

2008-08-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my word!

Chesterton Academy in Minnesota

Check out their curriculum! This high school has got "DREAM SCHOOL" written all over it. The Math, Science, and Language page doesn't interest me too much, but look at that Humanities and the Arts page! AAAAAHHHHH! The Man Who Was Thursday!!! Les Miserables!!! Apologetics, philosophy, Shakespeare, acting, art, music, playwriting,, I want to go there for 11th or 12th grade. ;)

The only problem is that we don't exactly have $5500 dollars to spare.

Oh yeah, one of the best things about this school? They have no gym classes planned.

Wicked!

2008-08-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, we saw it! No, we didn't forget our tickets at home, or lose ourselves in the terrifying city of Hollywood, or arrive too late to see the whole show. Our experience went something like this...

We drove the long drive to the San Fernando Valley to have lunch with my grandparents to celebrate my sister's eighth grade graduation. ("Yeah... isn't it lame?" quoth my sister, regarding her "graduation") Then we drove to my father's parents' house to leave him, Noah, and the baby. We visited for a while. I made sure everyone was clear on the "Watch Zoe like a hawk" thing. ;) Not that I don't trust them or anything.

From their house, my mom and sisters and I practically flew to Hollywood - there was NO traffic! And Hollywood is a huge, scary, dirty city, but it's got a lot of character.

So... we were standing around waiting for the doors of the theater to open, and people were lining up, milling about, checking to see if they had their tickets, et cetera, and my mother (who had made us dress up a little bit) said, "Well, I'm sorry. I guess people don't dress up to go to the theater anymore." Desirae groaned. She hates wearing skirts. But then inside, mum said, "See? Now that we're inside aren't you glad you dressed up?" Because it was really really gorgeous in there. And then, when you get into the actual theater, well... wow. I mean, it looks like part of a set. "It's so art deco," my mother remarked several times.

As always, it seemed like we were waiting in our seats forever. I began to pity my sister because she was sitting right next to my other sister and her best friend - they're 11 and 12. And you know... at that age, girls are sort of giggly.

And THEN...

The first notes of the musical.

And the dragon above the stage started moving. Those first notes of Wicked always excite me, every time I put the soundtrack on.

But as much as I'd like to go through the whole show scene by scene, song by song, I can't. So I'll just sum it up: It was excellent. Very well done, well performed, and I really enjoyed seeing it with my mom. Now for the finer details, with some nitpicking:

Costumes: My absotively-posolutely FAVORITE part of the show! ... possibly. ;) The Ozzian's costumes were sort of like... Les Miserables meets colorful-fantasy-world (sort of), perfect for this darker depiction of Oz. Glinda's dresses were rather astonishing: glittering all over, full skirts. Even when she was a schoolgirl at Shiz, her dresses were lovely. Elphaba's "Wicked Witch" dress was so subtly magnificent.

Singing and Acting: Erin Mackey, who played Glinda, was my favorite, acting-wise. She had a good voice as well. Although Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway's original Glinda, has a much better and more experienced voice, her performance seems kind of flat after Erin Mackey's totally insane, immature energy. See the video below. Teal Wicks, Elphaba, was pretty great - I loved how you could see all her energy, even when she was just walking across the stage. At first it was a more suppressed energy, but it became more and more apparent throughout the play. Everyone did really well, actually, and I don't really have any complaints... (Sorry, Aly. ;) ) The Dresser from Beauty and the Beast played Madame Morrible. Haha!
The show was REALLY fun, no matter how... skewed, the story is. They threw in some nods at lines from the movie ("What's in the punch?" "Lemons and melons and pears" "Oh my!" (Nessarose and Boq) and an ironic "There's no place like home" from Elphaba). A fan of the book will start rambling at intermission about all the changes, and have a nitpickers' field day when the show is over (I shared quite a few of my complaints with my family, I didn't pick the story completely apart) but a fan of the movie will come out tickled pink. And I consider myself a fan both of the book(s) and the movie (well... I was a fan of it when I was four years old...)

This is Erin Mackey performing Popular.

I'm not even going to try to find a video of Defying Gravity for you. YouTube videos simply do not do it justice. Neither does the song on the soundtrack, come to think of it.

It's added a whole new chunk of quotes to my and my sister's supply, and we didn't get home until 2 that night (which is pretty funny, since the show ended at 9 something... Honestly, how did that happen? I guess we watched the Olympics at my grandparents' house for longer than I thought...)

I Love Ya, Tomorrow

2008-08-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Went to Mass tonight. I usually lose track of what Father O'Neill is talking about in the homily because of his thick Irish accent (which I love, nonetheless) but today he was talking about the third commandment, "Remember the Lord's Day and keep it holy," and mostly I didn't even need to shake myself into paying attention. It was all very interesting. Driving home we listened to Catholic radio and heard a priest (I'm afraid I've forgotten his name) talking about how at some conference or something, some liberal theologian was preaching heresies and how this priest was sitting near one woman in the audience who was, as the priest on the radio said, "past the age of caring." The theologian said he didn't believe in angels, said they were only a "literary device." The woman muttered, "I wish one of those literary devices would come down and kick his butt." Haha! It reminded me of the guardian angel posters in my religion class - they are TOUGH angels, with their swords and shields. Makes me feel proud to have those guys on my team. :D Then, the theologian sat down and the woman said, "So you don't believe in hell, huh?" And he said no, he didn't. The woman replied, "Well, you'll believe in it when ya get there." Hehe, oh, dear... :D

I've been reading Sherlock Holmes lately. I KNEW I wouldn't regret buying that Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume II book! Especially since it was only six dollars... I like the characters, the stories, the writing, and everything about it more with each story. Today I read one of them aloud to my sister, which we both enjoyed. And luckily she doesn't mind if my tongue gets all tangled when I'm trying to read those long sentences.

Last week I read Arsenic and Old Lace, the play. I think I like the movie better, though I KNOW I'd like Arsenic better onstage. Some quotes:

Abby Brewster: I do hope they don't make us use that imitation flour again. I mean with this war trouble. It may not be very charitable of me, but I've almost come to the conclusion that this Mr. Hitler isn't a Christian.

Teddy: (running up the stairs) CHARGE! Charge the blockhouse!
Reverend Harper: The blockhouse?
Abby Brewster: The stairs are always San Juan hill.
Harper: Have you ever tried to persuade him that he wasn't Teddy Roosevelt?
Abby Brewster: Oh no!
Martha Brewster: He's so happy being Teddy Roosevelt.
Abby: Once, a long time ago - remember, Martha? We thought if he would be George Washington it might be a change for him...
Martha: But he stayed under his bed for days and just wouldn't be anybody.

Mortimer: Aunt Martha, men don't just jump in window seats and die.
Abby: No, he died first.
Mortimer: Well, how?
Abby: Oh, Mortimer, don't be so inquisitive! The gentleman died because he drank some wine with poison in it.
Mortimer: How did the poison GET in the wine?
Martha: Well, we put it in wine because it's less noticeable - when it's in tea it has a distinct odor.
Mortimer: You put it in the wine?
Abby: Yes! And I put Mr. Hoskins in the window seat because Dr. Harper was coming.
Mortimer: So you knew what you'd done and you didn't want Dr. Harper to see the body!
Abby: Well, not at tea - that wouldn't have been very nice!

Tomorrow we're going to see Wicked. My sisters and I keep randomly squealing and saying, "Tomorrow!" Which, of course, started me on the song.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away

I Just Talked To A COMPUTER

2008-08-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

It was a call from my baby sister's health plan thingummy. "Is this the child's parent or guardian?" I was silent... "I'm sorry," the computer said, "I'm just a computer. Did you say "yes?"

"No," I said firmly.
"Is there anyone available to take this call?"
"No," I said again, wishing there were.
"Would you be willing to take a message?"
Long silence. I didn't really want to, and this was a computer talking, so I could have said no if I wanted to. "Y-ees," I said rather uncertainly. And took the message.

But it was very weird.

Speaking of phone calls, we've been getting a lot of wrong number calls lately...

Excerpt of... Something, and Other Insignificant Somethings

2008-08-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is part of something I wrote one day when I was bored, without any idea of a plot, or answers to any of the questions. I just know one thing: these two characters do NOT fall in love, just in case you're wondering, and just in case you think that's where it's headed. It's not. ;)

The girl weighed the pendant in the palm of her hand, “It’s a good imitation,” she began.
“Imitation? Of what?”
“I’d say it’s worth about $50 dollars,” the girl continued, as if the shopkeeper hadn’t interrupted. “If you’ll take that much for it, I’ll buy it.” She looked at him questioningly, yet confidently.
“I’m really confused,” the shopkeeper whined after a pause. “What the heck is going on? What’s this an imitation of, and how do you know whether it’s a good imitation or not? Why do you want it?”
The girl gave him a look that didn’t seem to mean anything, but it also seemed to mean everything he didn’t know about. It didn’t answer any of his questions. It only created more questions, although he wasn't sure what they were and why he wanted the answers.
“What’s your name?” he asked quietly, but inwardly he felt irritated. Why do I even care? She’s just some weirdo-girl that dropped into this shop like a… he searched for a simile, but couldn’t think of anything befitting of the strange girl in ripped jeans and sneakers who could tell a “good imitation” from an elusive original that he hadn’t known existed till now. Just get her out of here, he commanded himself sternly. She is going to get me in so much trouble. He knew this with amazing certainty. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that she was trouble. “Trouble.” It would be written all over the necklace where she had left her fingerprints, and it would be written in her footprints when she walked out of the store. She had said, “After today you’ll never see me again,” but the shopkeeper had a terrifying feeling that she was wrong.

It's dramatic and freaky and confusing, I know. But for some reason, I like this cowardly shopkeeper with a bad attitude, and this weird girl in ripped jeans. I like them enough to find out more about their story. Someday. Maybe.

As for the other insignificant somethings, I bought the Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. II for only $6 at Barnes & Noble on Saturday. I was rather pleased.

And apparently my blog's readability level is Junior High:

I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know it doesn't mean that the people who read my blog have junior-high-school minds - it just means that junior-high-school-minds could read my blog and not be left scratching their heads in confusion. Well, some confusion, perhaps (my fault, not theirs) but not utter confusion. ;)

And my Books And Windows blog is a high school reading level. Hrm... must be because of the "A Word A Day" posts I've done.

And speaking of words, my sister and I spent a few hours last night on FreeRice. Marvelous website. I started keeping track of all the best words, and filled up two pages, front and back, and half of another one. Some of the words I came across that I liked best (these are the meanings given by FreeRice. The actual dictionary definitions are most likely better):

lachrymal: tearful (Yes, I do like those moody words like "morose" and "animosity" and "melancholy" etc.)
embrangle: confuse
waggery: jesting (sounds Shakespearean. There were actually several words we came across that caused me to spout off a Comedy of Errors quote. "Abject" and "upbraid" were among them. ["Thou sayest his meals were sauced with thy upbraidings..."])
munificent: generous (you can just TELL that this word means generous. Seriously.)
ineluctable: unavoidable (This is a totally unfamiliar word, but it's cool...)
dolor: grief (I only knew this because my grandparents live on a "Dolorosa" street, which means "way of sorrows," I believe)
pertinacious: Stubborn
shellback: worldly sailor (Whoah! I love this one!)
blithesome: cheery (happy word)
spindrift: sea spray

At one point Desirae and I had gotten several words right only because of The Roman Mysteries, and the Latin names and phrases in those books. And there was one word that we knew the meaning of because of Arsenic and Old Lace or the Andy Griffith Show. And some ("transubstantiate" and "genuflect") because we're Catholic. It's sort of ...homeschoolery.

Of Guitars

2008-08-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Guitars here are a part of the family. My dad and his family have a huge guitar collection: all kinds of guitars, from rare to cheap, from very old to somewhat old (the collection has stopped growing now), electric and acoustic. "The Collection" as my dad calls it, was also a pretty good moneymaker, and apparently rather popular in Hollywood. I don't know how many movies "our" guitars have appeared in, but I know for sure that a few of them are in The Color Purple.

Most of the guitars in The Collection are in my grandpa's garage, but we have a few at our house, and a few others. So let me introduce you to the guitars in our home:

First, here is my own left-handed guitar, an Ibanez:

I love it because it's mine to play, and name, and tune and bang up and carry around with me. It doesn't have a name yet, though. Needless to say, this guitar is NOT in the Collection. ;)

This is my dad's Alvarez, signed inside by the maker, Kazuo Yairi.

This is the Martin. This small kind of guitar is known as a "parlor guitar." It's very old - over 130 years - and in these pictures, it looks every day of its age! It's got cracks in the body, and broken strings, but four years ago it was in better shape, and was the guitar I started learning on. Clasical guitars can be restrung left-handed or right-handed because the bridge is level.

This guitar, "the Taylor" is another one that's not in the collection, but it has a kind of fun story. My dad was told about some drawing that his work, or a business associated with his, was having. The prizes were two Taylor acoustic/electric guitars (if you hook them up to an amp they magically sound like electric guitars). My dad entered, and won. He never told us he had entered, so we were pretty surprised when he came home carrying an unfamiliar, cloth guitar case.

This is "the Musser". It hasn't been played in a while, because it's got a buzz in a few of the strings, but I really really love this guitar. It's got such a beautiful color:

It looks so plain at first, until you see the decoration around the sound-hole (mother-of-pearl, perhaps, or mock-mother-of-pearl):

And then this... this is the Gibson. The Gibson "Southern Jumbo."

Out of all the guitars we have in our home, this is my favorite. I love the dark, rich colors, and the full, beautiful sound it makes, even with its old strings. I love how it looks like it was my dad's favorite, too. It's all beat up around the pickguard from hard playing:

I grew up around these guitars, and I'm only now learning to appreciate each one. So don't worry if you look at these pictures and think, "Mmm... pretty... but what's the big deal?" There is no big deal. I just like guitars. My dad likes them. His brother, when he was alive, liked them (he did most of the collecting and business). I guess it runs in the family.

Some Little Things

2008-07-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

I'm still recovering from the suddenness of arriving for a performance of The Comedy of Errors at one in the afternoon on a Saturday, and then not realizing until after the curtain call that ... there wouldn't be another the next day or the next weekend. Of course, it all wasn't officially over until the cast party, and even now... I just miss it. I feel like I won't ever get over that. But I may get to be in The Music Man with my cousins and Hannah this fall, and the woman who played Adriana in Comedy wants to start a Shakespearean acting class for children, and there's most likely going to be some musical theatre involved, so I feel consoled.

I attended the last show of You Can't Take It With You on Sunday. Despite some obvious fumbling (well, obvious to me at any rate: I had already seen the show twice before) it was a fantastic show, and the cast received a standing ovation. I was so proud of them all. And sad that I'd never get to see them as those characters again. Ooh, it was sad indeed.

But I really am quite WELL! and to quote Kolenkov from "Can't," "Life is chasing inside of me like a ... squirrel!" I'm happy. Some things that are making me happy:

1. The audio book of The Goose Girl. *SPOILERS* Ani's voice is good. Selia's is good. Geric's is sort of... too... um... I can't think of a word. But he doesn't sound right - he doesn't sound earnest and boyish and sweet, while still sounding strong and noble. He just sounds mostly strong and noble. I'm not crazy about the narrator's voice - the words seem more beautiful when I'm reading them in my head, with my own voice. I just finished listening to the scene where Ani is talking to Falada's head. It was beautiful on paper, and beautiful in audio. However, I did have it imagined so clearly in my mind that it fell a little short. I imagined it all more desperate. When Ani said Falada's name in her mind, the sound of it echoed through my mind for pages afterward when I first read it. I never imagined any line of diologue in any book as clearly as I did that. It was an imaginary cry to an imaginary character, heart-broken, echoing in an imaginary cold, and I heard it and felt it so clearly it still makes me shiver. But even so, in the audio book, that scene was amazing. *END SPOILERS*

2. Guitar: I never realized how good I had become at playing guitar until I tried to learn to play with my right hand. I'm a leftie, playing on a left-handed guitar, but since my dad plays and collects guitars, there is certainly no shortage of normal guitars. So I picked up my dad's acoustic-electric Taylor that he won in some drawing that he randomly entered (although I'd rather play his Gibson Southern Jumbo - but alas, it's out of tune and rather collectible) and decided to learn to play the "right" way. Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch, painful! My fingers have felt like they're on fire, and all the frustration of my first months as a student of guitaritry (new word!) are coming back. I'm recalling how hard it was - is! - to make each string make a sound in a chord like D minor, which is now so simple for me, almost like a habit (on a left-handed guitar, that is). So that's making me happy. The thought that I can pick up my guitar and play a few chords quickly and cleanly, do a few hammer-ons, slides, and play the beginning of a George Gershwin song - that makes me very happy.

3. Arsenic And Old Lace. I watched the movie twice this past week, once with my sister and once with my father, and I put the play on hold at the library (I'm looking forward to seeing how different it is from the movie). It's SO fun! And quotable. And morbid, and hilarious. When the play arrives from the library, I shall write up a blogpost full of funny quotes from it.

4. The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy. My dad and I stayed up late a few nights ago talking about it. Someday I'll post about it on The Shakespeare Journal, and where my father and I stand, but first I have to do a lot more research. That's just the way I am, you know.

5. The trailer for Harry Potter 6. Time flies. Seems like just yesterday we were at 4, and I was on the way to the theater thinking that I hoped to goodness that they would play a trailer for The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. They did, as we were walking up to the top seats. I practically had to be dragged up the stairs. I was a silly little Narnia-fangurl back then. Very silly. Hopefully I've matured in my love for the series and following of the movies and their production. (Says the girl who burst into tears at the end of Prince Caspian) But yes, about that trailer: I like it. There's nothing about it that I like in particular (well... Young Tom Riddle is pretty awesome), but I'm just so glad it's HERE.

And I guess that's about all I wanted to say. Except for this:

Noah: Mommy, I'm Plumpy. (Referring to a character in the game of Candyland)
Mom: Okay. I'm Queen Frostine. (Referring to another character in the game)
Noah: ... No. You're Plumpy's mommy.
Mom: I am? Why can't I be someone more -
Noah: (Interrupting) You're Plumpy's mommy.

Poor Plumpy's mommy. ;)

Fond Remembrances of April Foolery

2008-07-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking today of the very funny conversation I had with a few girls from a forum I frequent and help moderate. It was on April 1st. These two girls will be given new names for this blogpost, though they might come upon this and reveal their identity, because really I don't think they'd mind if I told you who they were...are... but the conversation is just a tad bit embarrassing for three book-loving, good-spelling young ladies such as we. ;)

I started it by writing in my signature, an April Fool's Joke: "Fownder of the Almost-Illiterate Teens Club!! Join 2day!!!1!1"

Girl #1: *snickers* Ooh! can i like, join ur club??!

Me: yah, im tryng to recrooit (sp????) more members.

Girl #1: *feels the need to use some large and intelligent-sounding words to make up for the ghastly chatspeak she used above, but of course cannot think of anything decent*

Me: Grandiloquent
Xenophobia (fear or hatred of strangers...)
Meshugga (Yiddish/Hebrew or something. Means crazy or stupid. Love that word.)
Brodingnagian (Of gigantic size. WHOA!)
Tinctumutation (change of colour)

Girl #2: Ooooooh, can i like join the club, [Girl #1] and delany?? it souns lyk my kinda thing totally!!!

Girl #2: of corse!!! And I'm sure that [Girl #3] will want to join too. its her type of club for shore.

(Man...I'm really not good at this grammar-killing stuff...)

Me: OMG, now we have like, 3 mmbers totul!

*cringes*

Girl #3: o i like wanna b in yr club like let me joyn i wanna like so so bad. [Here she posted numerous smiley faces and emoticons] omg like boks r so last year like i think mk-up is like so kewl

(This is fun!)

Girl #2: You are a natural!

Girl #1: Ack! Don't insult her!

did u here about Zac Ephron being cast as Youstance (sp???) So awesem, i loved hsm.

*is tired already, and wonders how genuine chatspeakers manage it*

We all got pretty tired of it at that point. It really is sort of exhausting, and we did need those words like "brobdingnagian" and "tinctumutation" to feel that not all of our brain cells had died. ;)

The Roman Mysteries

2008-07-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

Long have I awaited the arrival of the Roman Mysteries tv series to DVD! And finally... here is season one, in my very own house!

My sister and I expected that we would be cracking jokes all the way through, but I liked 'most everything about it more than I expected I would.

This post is the fulfillment of a promise to Rebekah and Alyosha, who knew that we had pre-ordered the DVD, and requested such a report. It will be organized by "scroll" (as in the first two-part episode, and the next, and so on) and then by character. I was going to rewatch all of the episodes and take notes, but that would have taken too long, and I just didn't "feel like it" today.

The Secrets of Vesuvius I was never very nervous about this one, because I knew it combined the first two books in the series, The Thieves of Ostia and The Secrets of Vesuvius, which are perhaps my least favorite books in the series. The first moments of the series were odd, to say the least, involving Flavia Gemina running for her life from someone she's never seen before, and Jonathan ben Mordecai saving her with his slingshot. The filming there was wiggly and confusing, but it had calmed down by the time Flavia and Jonathan were having their first conversation. That was where my sister and I were first pleasantly surprise, when Jonathan said, "You must be Flavia. I hear your mother all the time, 'Flavia, slow down! Flavia, stop that!'"

The adaptation on this one was only so-so, very rushed (my, my, those children certainly do have many adventures!), but the episode itself was pretty good. Mount Vesuvius pretty much looked like a painting, though.

The Pirates of Pompeii Not much to say about this, except that I loved (er... loved to hate) Pulchra and disliked Felix and most traces of Flavia's disturbing fancy for Felix were gone, thankfully.

The Assassins of Rome Susannah's Other Jonathan subplot was also done away with, but Rizpah and her kitten were in this! More about Rizpah below...

The Dolphins of Laurentum Adaption-wise, this one is the best. It's quite close to the book (even though Aristo isn't in it).

The Enemies of Jupiter It was pretty good, as I recall. The story in this one was probably the farthest from the book of all the episodes in season one. *SPOILERS* Instead of giving his mother a drink to make her appear dead, Susannah is poisoned by Berenice. And then - horror of horrors! - Jonathan goes home. *wail* No! I'm sorry, but I simply adore that cliff-hanger in the book. Gone. Gone, alas.

The series has a happy ending at Miriam's wedding. Captain Geminus informs Flavia that it's time she think about getting married (in the TV show, she's 13 instead of 11), and although Flavia is rather distressed about it, her father loves her, Jonathan is funny, and one shouldn't have a frown at a wedding. Flavia catches Miriam's bouquet and frantically tosses it to Nubia. Haha.

Now, onto the interesting part: Characters!

Flavia Gemina: Francesca Isherwood did a very good job as Flavia. She's bossy and cute. She's not nearly as annoying as Flavia is in the book.

Jonathan ben Mordecai: I just love his curls! ;) He was very funny in his own way, but just not the Jonathan I love in the books, though a lot of his funny lines made it into the show ("Wait, how do you know what camel dung tastes - no, don't answer that")

Nubia: Rather perfect and peaceful but still very human, and a very great lover of animals. Rebekah Brookes-Murrell's Nubia was very close to the book-Nubia.

Lupus: In a word, perfect. I am a firm Harry Stott fan. I wonder if it's harder or easier to play a character who doesn't talk? At any rate, Harry did a wonderful job. He got Lupus's fire and energy just right.

Dr. Mordecai: Excellent! He looked exactly how I imagined him and acted very well. I have no complaints.

Pliny: Ditto! He was fabulous.

Pliny the Younger: Oh, Mark Wells (older Edmund in LWW) was the perfect choice for Pliny's nephew! He's awkward and nerdy and lovable. In The Secrets of Vesuvius when Flavia bursts into their home to tell Admiral Pliny about the volcano, Pliny's first reaction is to shout, "Assassins!"

Rizpah: She was ok... She didn't look at all like the description in the book, but I suppose that would be have been very difficult. But at least she was THERE, is what I say.

Miriam: Very good.

Gaius/Captain Geminus: Very good.

Let us just assume that everyone else is very good unless I mention their names.

Felix: I didn't care for him much... his eyes were Felix-eyes. But his hair... Hmm.

The rest, all jumbled together: Pulchra was marvelous, but she and Flavia look rather alike. Titus was just fine, Berenice was great, Susannah looked better in the picture on Caroline Lawrence's site, Venalicius was great (and Dolphins of Laurentum was GREAT, and did I mention that Lupus was fabulous?)

Ok... that's most of my thoughts about it. Anything else that you'd like to ask me, Aly, I'll be happy to answer. ;)

I'm Weak - And Back Early

2008-07-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

I couldn't stay away 10 whole days. *shrug* Oh, well. I did stay away from blogging for eight days, so now to make up for it, you're getting a double update. Maybe even a triple. I FINALLY wrote something on The Shakespeare Journal - I'm sorry it took so long! My thoughts were all jumbled and it took a long time to get them all typed down - sort of like closing a suitcase with too many clothes inside of it. Anyhow, the post is on Miranda from The Tempest. Not scholarly or terribly interesting, but so what? ;)

When the play begins, she’s lived on an island with only her father and their hideous slave, Caliban since she was three years old. This naturally makes her relationship with her father very different from the relationship many girls have with their father. She confides in him openly, though she is rather a reserved girl, as a rule. Prospero is Miranda’s world, until Ferdinand comes along, much like Cosette and Valjean in Les Miserables. But unlike Cosette, Miranda still has room in her heart to love her father as before, while Cosette pretty nearly forgot Valjean. (Selfish girl. Grr.)

And I also hope to do a post on Books and Windows. Maybe. I'm not promising anything. *sigh*

The Roman Mysteries series one arrived in the mail! EEK! :D I'll do a post on that, as I promised to Alyosha and Rebekah. :)

I'm re-reading The Man Who Was Thursday. The other day I was overcome by an urge to read Gabriel Syme's speech to the anarchists out loud. It's rather over-the-top, because he's only pretending to be an anarchist himself, but it was fun to read out loud.

I went to see You Can't Take It With You, put on by the Shakespeare Festival I'm doing Comedy of Errors with. Twice, actually. It's such a hilarious play! I was so proud. I kept thinking, "This is my town. Some of these people are people I know." It was so great.

Speaking of The Comedy of Errors, our out-of-town director stopped coming to all our shows, so the director of Can't, Peter, (he runs the Shakespeare Festival) has taken over CoE. It's going to be so much funnier now. I also get to be in another scene, jeering at Egeon, the condemned Syracusian with some other townsfolk. Fun. :P We have a performance tonight. I'm excited - really, really excited. You would think I was the director.

In other theatrical news, we're going to see Wicked in August. Unless something happens that prevents us.

Well... that's all for now, I guess.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

2008-07-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

When I picked up Rebecca I was expecting a suspenseful mystery novel, from all the things I had read about it. It's not exactly a mystery novel, but it is suspenseful. I really liked it.

There were three things that struck me the most about the book:

1) The main character - her name is never given. I could relate to her very well, as her imagination and mine tend to work in similar patterns. I'm still astounded that a writer can get away with telling a story from the perspective of a believable character without giving away their first name.

2) The writing. It's so FULL and delicious and rich, from descriptions of the gardens at Manderley to an account of afternoon tea.

3) The story. It seemed rather dreary after the marriage of the main character and Mr. de Winter, but now I realize that I should have seen that twist coming.

A lovely, melancholy book, worthy of all the good things I ever heard about it.

Leaving For A While

2008-07-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Ok. Life is just a little too much right now. I still have schoolwork to finish, and a room to clean thoroughly, and I'm having a very difficult time. I'm going to back off from the internet for a week or so and see how it goes then. I'll see you all in about 10 days, maybe a few more. :)

Bonita Granville as Nancy Drew

2008-07-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to talk about the Nancy Drew movies. Not that new Emma Roberts movie that came out last year: that was cute, but nothing near so cute as Bonita Granville.

Isn't she adorable? When my grandpa got out the Nancy Drew movies from the 30's that he had taped, I was an 11-year-old Nancy Drew book purist. "That's Nancy!?" I exclaimed, "It can't be! She's bouncy and... blonde!" And adorable! It's been a long time since I've said that I love the Nancy Drew books, but I do love these Nancy Drew movies. I even love the changes they made (changing Ned Nickerson to Ted Nickerson, for instance. Ned sounds oily.)

One of the movies shares a title and part of a plot with the book Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, and the movie Nancy Drew, Detective is based off the Nancy Drew book Password to Larkspur Lane. Today I have, off of YouTube, one of the four movies: Nancy Drew, Reporter. It's not my favorite, but it was all I could find. If you have Netflix, look for all four movies in a two-disc set. My favorite is Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter. You don't have to like it, or even watch it. If you like 30's movies, 30's dialogue, costumes, etc. you'll probably like it. :)

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

Part Five:

Part Six:

Part Seven:

Opening Night

2008-07-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last night was the opening night for The Comedy of Errors. My very first opening night. I'm sort of sick right now, so I felt a little queasy during the performance; it might have been stage fright but I'm not so sure. I still feel the same way right now. Maybe I'll never know.

Our Dromios (D. of Ephesus and D. of Syracuse) were both played by girls, and wore fake mustaches. Ha! D. of Syracuse came into the girl's dressing room after trimming her mustache and said in a Jaq-Clousseau accent, "Believe it or not, I do belong in here!"

Our nine-year-old duke (pardon me: nine and a half!) had a mild case of stage fright just before the show. But she did so wonderfully. She didn't fidget too much, she stood nice and tall, and spoke loudly.

Some people fumbled of course, but the audience seemed to really enjoy the play. When they first laughed (probably at D. of Syracuse - she was GREAT!) GiGi, the lady playing Dr. Pinch, said, "Ooh, that's good!" When they laughed a second time she said, "Isn't that a beautiful sound?" It was. It really was. It made me want to laugh too. I practically had the play memorized but I smiled and chuckled along with the audience.

I did fine, if you're wondering. I play Luce, a servant. I had some snappy, scornful lines in Act III, and a frantic speech as a messenger in Act V. That was lots of fun. I didn't have so many lines to memorize that it was stressful for me. I went out without my glasses which was... alright, I suppose. I could see everyone on stage well enough. Though with the lights and without my glasses, our Antipholus of Syracuse looked like he had a blurry halo over his head which is funny for two reasons: the first being that the Syracusian boys are supposed to be more innocent and naive than the Ephesian boys. The second reason was that A. of Syracuse was showing people how to make the Sign of the Cross backstage before the show. Hehe!

I almost forgot to mention the turn-out: 100 people! I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but keep in mind that we were performing in a small town in a gazebo. We ran out of seats!

We had another show today. It was very hot, but all together I think everyone did better. Next week is the opening of You Can't Take It With You. I really can't wait to see it. Now I'm already wondering what play the Shakespeare Festival up here will do next year...

My Sister

2008-06-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

I think my sister and I spend too much time together...

Today at our church's annual barbecue, a band was playing oldies music, and my four-year-old brother was clapping along. Desirae and I smiled at him, and I started talking about how it's neat that music is so important in our family - it's like we're born with a love for it. Zoe is absolutely mesmerized when my dad plays guitar, Noah claps along to music and likes me to teach him the words to songs; my dad and his brothers all played guitar, his brother Markie had a huge (and rather famous) guitar collection, and his mom plays piano and organ. On my mom's side of the family, both my mom and her sister sing. I've always taken it for granted that we're such a musical family. I was talking to Desirae about this, and finished with, "...and we have an appreciation for all different kinds of music..." And then Desirae interrupted with, "Wow, that's so weird! I was just thinking about musical appreciation a few minutes ago." We laughed. Things like that have happened before: sometimes we joke that we can read each other's minds.

Then just now, I was reading an Agatha Christie short story, "...the past, which cannot be altered..." someone said. And my train of thought wandered for a few second s to the movie Meet The Robinsons, which involves time-travel and wanting to alter the past, then found its way back to the story. Not one minute later Desirae quoted randomly from Meet The Robinsons, "I love baseball. It's my destiny to play that game." Haha!

"How do people make it through life without a sister?" ~Sara Corpening

Joseph and Easy Street

2008-06-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

My sisters and I saw Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at a college this morning. It was performed by a Christian-kids-theater group. (They're doing The Music Man in the fall, and I'd REALLY love to be in it...)

Joseph was good - that is, I enjoyed it. The costumes were wild and funny, the singers were mostly very good. But I didn't like the musical very much. It's just too wacky for me, with pretty annoying characters and music. And was it ever colorful! Wow... But as I said, the singing was very good, and there was a lot of dancing.

The sons of Jacob had a random maid who came out and danced with one of them. So strange...

So after that, my sisters and I were kind of in a theaterish mood. A few nights ago we watched Annie (the newish one), and we always comment on the dancing in Easy Street. "Don't people notice them dancing like that!?" Stuff like that. Desirae (or it might have been my other sister) said, "We should do that sometime. Just dance down a street or sidewalk singing and dancing all weird like that," So today, we were walking from a restaurant to Kmart with my dad, and Desirae whispered in my and my sister's ears "Let's do Easy Street" now.

Sooo...

I did.

I took off my sweatshirt (don't ask why I was wearing it on such a day. It wasn't that hot in the restaurant) and started swinging it around. And I sang. And danced like Rooster. We were all kind of having a hard time breathing from so much laughter by the time we got to the store.

EDIT- Post #50, not counting drafts.

The City of Ember

2008-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is an alien-less science fiction novel for children, about an underground city called... um, yeah, Ember. The citizens of Ember are running out of supplies, and Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow decide, on finding a they need to figure out a way to get the heck out of there.

Because of some things my dad had been reading and talking about in the weeks before I read Ember, the book seemed like a political commentary to me. Ember has a corrupted government, and people in the town are waiting for things to either get absolutely better or absolutely worse. The Believers seemed to represent the kind of Christian I'm tempted to be sometimes - completely blind to all the badness in the world. And of course there was the fact that the Emberites were becoming worried that soon there would not be enough food for everyone.

The City of Ember had a wonderful premise, with average writing, fun characters and even more fun character names (Lina Mayfleet, Edward Pocket, Mrs. Murdo, etc). But I do wish that it had been a little more mature, and about 150 pages longer. I wish it could stand better on its own, because the sequel, The People of Sparks is nowhere near as interesting to me. Personally, I thought the cliffhanger at the end of Ember was a little maddening, but I like open endings just fine.

However, reading about the Emberites reaction to the real world in The People of Sparks is fun, and interesting.

Overall, I liked The City of Ember very much. It's clean, it's easy, and it's exciting; it would make an excellent read-aloud to my own children, when and if I have them someday.

Galadriel In The Mall

2008-06-25T11:53:00.001-07:00

I love my NarniaWeb-triplets, Theophila and Bookwyrm. Theo is so sweet, with a decidedly mischievous streak; and Booky has a shiny moderator-hat and makes me laugh every time I talk to him. We used to talk almost every night on NarniaWeb's chat thread, and this is one of our conversations.

A Brief History: Bookwyrm's first avatar/signature set was of Gandalf, and Theo's was of Susan Pevensie. So I had a dream in which I met both of them in my local grocery store: Booky, looking like Gandalf's twin, was stooped over the shopping cart, and Theo, in Susan's green archery dress, was following. Strange dream. But Bookwyrm was Gandalf forever after that. So one night...

Bookwyrm: We ought to form a NW version of the Wise. I'm Gandalf of course. Who wants to be Elrond and Galadriel?

About this time, I think my laptop's dial-up internet went wonky and I was gone.

Theophila: I'll be Galadriel.

After all, I did get her as well as Elrond and Frodo on that LotR character quiz. Also there's a slight resemblance between us when I smile.

[...]

Faunius, I think you're Elrond...

Bookwyrm: I doubt anyone wants to be Radagast or Saruman.

The next night, I complained about being stuck with Elrond, and Theo giggled at my distress. They quoted the previous conversation for me, and told me if I had been paying attention I might have gotten out of being Elrond. Then we had the following conversation...

Bookwyrm:
Does that mean you have a creepy smile, Theo? 'Cause I always thought Galadriel looked a little creepy when she smiles.

Theophila:
*gives Bookwyrm a warning look* Just because I'm Galadriel right now doesn't mean I can't still give a Susan glare, you know.

Me:
I should try a creepy, wise Galadriel-smile on people sometime and see what they do...

Bookwyrm: I'll stick to stern Gandalf frowns. And maybe shouting (Insert Name), you fool!

(This right here is my favorite part of the conversation...)

Theophila:
Or, "Fool of a (Insert Last Name)!!"

I think I should go to the mall wearing elvish clothing and smiling in a creepy-wise-Galadriel fashion. Then I could walk up to random strangers, hand them the sort of mini-flashlights that go on keychains, and say, "May it be a light to you when all other lights go out." But I have nothing Elvish to wear.

If I did that, though, I could ride up and down on the escalators waving gently to anyone passing by.

Bookwyrm died laughing somewhere around here.

Bookwyrm: *comes back to life after having bought a nifty new outfit at the Gap of Rohan* White is the new grey, right?

Me: Be creative, Theo! Maybe Desirae will make you an Elvish cloak.

Theophila: The new look is good for you, Gandalf. But really, it might be a little impractical. White is so hard to maintain...

During the next part of the conversation we discussed someday dressing up at some random mall, playing imaginary instruments. (We were all part of a virtual rock band called the "Air Band." Haha.)

Theophila: I love it!! That'd be amazing. (I wonder if we'd get arrested and taken to the insane asylum.)

Me: We probably would. Three people playing imaginary instruments, in poorly made Lord of the Rings costumes...

Theophila:
Fauny, maybe by then we'll be playing real instruments better than we do now. Of course, we still might be arrested for the poorly made LotR costumes...

Bookwyrm: I imagine they get lots of weird LOTR fans over in Britain though.

Theophila: Probably you're right, Bookwyrm. But I'm sure we could manage to be even weirder. And we must do Narnia stuff, as well.

Delaney, wearing a flowing green dress and strumming a mandolin, approaches a random stranger at the mall.
"Where arrrrrrre you going?" she trills melodically.
"Um... to Barnes & Noble."
"Rrrrrreally? Why, what a funny name! 'Barrrrnes & Noble! What is that?"
"Er... a bookstore? You know, where the sell... books."
"Books? Therrrre arrrre no such things as books."
"..."
"Books do not exist. It is all in your imagination. Books do not exist."
"Books do not exist..."

Or we could run around the mall in WW2 era clothing playing hide and seek while listening to the Andrews sisters.

No... I forgot. THAT is my favorite part of the conversation.

Bookwyrm thought it was pretty funny too.

Bookwyrm: Faunius actually looks a bit like my mental version of the LOTGK. Who should we be?

Me: That's great, Theo. You know what's even funnier? I can't roll my r's at ALL! Desirae was trying to teach me, and the only sound I could make was: er....llllll...er...
Really Booky? I do? Then I just have to learn how to roll my r's.

Bookwyrm: Or we could dress up as [Dufflepuds] and go around agreeing with each other.

''That's a shoe, boys.''

That it is, chief. What a smart Chief you are!''

''So wise!''

It's okay, Fauny-dear, I can't trill my r's either. Goodness, Bookwyrm! First you say my smile is creepy, now you say Fauny looks like the Emerald witch! Just kidding, of course. I'm not yet sure who we should be EDIT: But we're girls.

(This last statement was in response to Booky's "That's a shoe, boys.")

Then I said bitterly:

Me: Yeah Theo, we're girls, and I'm ELROND!

Bookwyrm: I can trill my r's. *looks smug*

Theophila: I just realized that Galadriel has a somewhat low voice. Does that mean I have to speak lowly when we go to the mall?

Bookwyrm: Well, we could get a megaphone for you, Theo and you could talk lowly into it.
Or we could find balconies, one for Elrond and one for Galadriel and you could pretend to speak to each other with your minds. Or Theo could walk up to people and say ''Welcome Frodo Baggins, one who has seen THE EYE'' or whatever Galadriel said. And do it with dramatic eye widdening.

And that was sort of the end of the conversation. I still laugh, reading it for the tenth time (Yes, I'm very nostalgic). They're such marvelous people.

By the way the conversation was slightly edited from it's original form.

Introducing The Shakespeare Journal

2008-06-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Yes. Another blog. You'll all be wondering, "How will she ever have time to keep up with so many blogs!?" But I sort of needed this. Because of The Comedy of Errors, and because I need to take a test (and write an essay) on The Merchant of Venice, I have a lot to say about Shakespeare right now, though I'm hesitant to call myself a "purist" or even a big fan.

So, here it is. It will probably be semi-regular for the next few weeks... maybe. I don't know.

Enjoy...

What? My house is not a mess!

2008-06-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

I only step on toys because we have five kids in our house! So there!

There seems to always be one certain toy on the ground on the way to my room. It's a stuffed car from the movie, Cars. For those of you who have seen the movie, it's Tow Mater. If you kick him, throw him, punch him, or step on him he talks. So lately, when I'm walking to my room and not paying attention, I step on this toy. He shouts, "OUCH!" and I jump. Then, as I walk away, he says reproachfully, "Dang. That thar wasn't very nice."

I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to post lately. Things have been busy. I don't even want to talk about the schoolwork I still have to finish, and then this Shakespeare play: I love love love it, but it's completely taken over my brain. But here is a list of a few posts I'm going to write in the nearish future:

On Dreams - mine, to be more exact. My story-ish dreams, and my dreams about The Fairy Tale Novels books, and other book-related dreams.

My thoughts on The Midnight Dancers - this one is way overdue, and is getting put off until after I finish all my schoolwork, so I have time to re-read it properly.

A funny conversation between me and my dear adopted "triplets," Theophila and Bookwyrm of NarniaWeb, aka Galadriel and Gandalf (I'm Elrond...)

On Comedy of Errors rehearsals, my first experience with seeing Shakespeare read and acted right in front of me, and our nine-year-old (and female!) Duke.

There were a few more, but I forgot all about them. Ah, well.

Wacky Math Problem

2008-06-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

This wacky ratio problem was in my math book:

"The ratio of hopeless romantics to hard-boiled skeptics was 459 to 2. If there were 7,803 hopeless romantics in the room, how many hard-boiled skeptics were there?"

I'm thinking they were in an opera house or something, watching a bizarrely unrealistic and super-romantic opera. A really big opera house...

To Life

2008-06-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at four o'clock I had a violin lesson.
I got home at six, and had to leave at 6:30 for first rehearsal of The Comedy of Errors (*squee*) and I got home from that at 10:15. I finally went to bed at about 11:30, I think.

THEN
This morning just as we were about to leave on hour hour-long drive to the big town we do our shopping and appointments and whatnot in, we get a call: "Delaney has a rehearsal today from one to four..." WHAT? So my mom had to frantically rearrange the day. She left my brother and sister to play at her friend's house (who has children their ages) until my dad (he works out there) picked them up. Then she drove me back up here, and I had to apologize for being over an hour late... which didn't turn out to be such a big deal. And I wasn't the only late person.

And now we have a "Game Night" thing with people at our church... we probably won't go - my mom is exhausted! But all I have to say is: is this what it's like for people who have a LIFE?

If so, all I can say is... To life!

And to those quiet minutes I can snatch to write a blog post and read two paragraphs of a book. :(

We had rehearsal today at a gazebo in my town (sort of). It was a nice day, and I just love listening to the other actors speak Shakespeare. They're so LOUD. And awesome.

Got MOLD?

2008-06-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

MOLD: Mental Obsessive Literary Disorder. Have you got it?

I have. I and some of the girls on the Little Red Reading Hood message board started a support blog for those with this curiously contagious and chronic disorder. The blog is here. If you'd like to be a blog author, contact me (or any of the other girls on the blog).

And hold onto your MOLD.

Tagged! Whew...

2008-06-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

BookButterfly has the great honor of being the first ever to "tag" me - that I'm aware of. I might have been tagged ans never known it... I hope not.

Rules
Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Who’s your all-time favorite author and why?
Uh... I guess C.S. Lewis, because he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces and The Great Divorce. And because he was just so jolly. I wish he was still alive. I would have written him a letter, and gotten my sister to send him her Narnia drawings. But Regina Doman is my favorite living author for many many reasons. :)

Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her among your favorites? First favorite was Francis Hodgson Burnett. I read The Secret Garden and A Little Princess about 8 times each when I was 8 or 9. Yes, she's still among my favorites because of the impact those two books had upon me at the time.

Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why? G.K. Chesterton, because he was witty and brilliant and not too many people read him; I have a thing for reading mostly-unknown authors and listening to mostly-unknown music and telling the world about them.

If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Regina Doman, L.M. Montgomery, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Elizabeth George Speare, George MacDonald. Those are the names that would pop out of my mouth before someone popped a cork in my mouth.

I hereby taggeth Elenatintil, Grace (when she gets back), Alyosha (anything to get her to post something! ;) Just kidding...) Lady Rose, Hannah, and Lainey

What I learned in Science Today

2008-06-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

A line of violent thunderstorms preceding a cold front is known as a squall line.

My typo: Squeal line. That's what a line of Delaneys and Desiraes was when The Midnight Dancers' first chapter was released online.

Still babbling about that book,
Delaney

I Swear It's Not...

2008-06-07T02:44:00.000-07:00

I swear that The Midnight Dancers hasn't been a bad influence. I'm only up at 2:45 AM because I was typing up a review of it. It won't be up for a few days, I'm afraid. I haven't said all I want to say.

Goodnight.

Exciting News

2008-06-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

My violin teacher is going to start a choir! :D At my violin lesson tomorrow, she and my mom are going to come up with an ad to put in the paper, and see what kind of response they get. :)My mother and I have been praying for a choir for a while - a good classical one.

Side note: My violin teacher's name is Wendy and her husband's is Peter. Peter and Wendy - isn't it great? :)

THE MIDNIGHT DANCERS CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY.

Desirae is reading it right now.

EEK.

Arms of Love

2008-06-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished Carmen Marcoux's novel about a young couple's chaste courtship and marriage. I appreciated the couple's devotion to Jesus and their desire to live according to His will; I appreciated that they wanted to save all the physical stuff, even kissing, for their wedding day. I appreciated that their parents were such a big part of their relationship. But there were so many things that made the book itself unrealistic and annoying.

For one thing, the big home-schooling family with eight children... The NEVER fight. No, they do fight, but it's not real. In one part, the mother, in a bad mood, yells at the 16-year-old daughter. The 16-year-old daughter, now in a bad mood as well, turns and yells at the BABY, a darling 4-year-old girl, and says some very hurtful things. I can get in a bad mood when people shout at me, but I would never ever EVER think of telling my almost-four-year old brother that he "looks so stupid." But then when the family makes up, with eloquent apologies, I feel like we're a rotten family. We're a homeschooling family with five kids, and we can't get along like that. So it sort of amazed me that, though the author claimed that they fought as families "sometimes do" (try "often") their arugments in the book seemed so contrived.

The second thing I found annoying was the fact that the author kept repeating herself. I read about three times that "Brandon was a skilled guitar player" and that "Joanie enjoyed working at the station." The adjectives also got on my nerves.

It seemed that the author set out to tell about courtship and chastity and disguise it as a novel, which isn't too bad of an idea, really. But, as I said, though I liked and was even inspired by the messages, the numerous conversions (always happyifying), and the parent-children relationships, it was dissatisfying as literature.

Personality Type Humor

2008-06-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

Let's ask the Myers-Briggs personality types whether this glass is half empty or half full.

From this page:

ENFJ -- There's more than enough for friends to share.

ENFP -- Whooeee! Water fight!

INFP -- But look! A crystalline vessel, filled with shimmering, life-giving nectar!

INFJ -- Senator Hophnagle used the rest of it for his mud pie project.

ENTJ -- A "full" glass of water, please.

INTJ -- Yes, that glass will be the flivvium container.

ENTP -- Voila! .157 liters hydrogen hydroxide, prepared by micro gnomes ...

INTP -- Well, it seems just a little more than half full--assuming that it is water...

ESTJ -- Hey! Whose job was it to fill up this glass?

ESFJ -- I can't believe someone would leave this dirty glass out here! Clean up this mess right now!

ISTJ -- It's half empty now, and it wouldn't surprise me if it dried up completely.

ISFJ -- I bet _________ would like to have some water right now ...

ESTP -- You call that a glass of water? Why, back where I come from, ...

ISTP -- So? It's water. Big deal!

ESFP -- There's a glass of water--you know, it's healthy to drink a lot of water, why, I remember when I was growing up that
we...

ISFP -- (Holds up glass to the light, tilts it from side to side, tastes it, wiggles finger in it, grins slightly, moves on.)

Alternate Answers:

ENFJ - Look in your heart. It holds the answers to all of life's mysteries. It will tell you what the glass is.

ENFP - Hey!!! I bet if we got a Bunch of these glasses we could make a waterslide! Or maybe a pool! Oh wait, we could freeze this water and make an ice sculpture! Or we could...

INFP - Can't you see how this glass represents our world? It is neither perfect nor bad, it's simply here and its value is determined by each and every one of us. We cannot survive if we don't drink the water...if we don't get along with our fellow people.

INFJ - (closes eyes, concentrates) It's half-empty. (The INFJ is referring to a glass that is 200 miles away)

ENTJ - You call this competence?!?!?!

INTJ - How can you say it's half-full? It's half-empty! I refuse to listen to your reasoning!

ENTP - Hmm...it's...(Ingeniously constructs a hacksaw from two straws and a shoelace, cuts the glass in half)...Ah...Now it's completely full!

INTP - What? (Looks up in bewilderment after being distracted from his mathematical theory book)

ESTJ - Dag nabbit! Look! This water isn't even filled up all the way! What is this world coming to? You know, maybe if people respect the law like they used to in the good old days...

ESFJ - It's half-full! But we better fill it up all the way before our guests arrive! We must give them a cordial welcome!

ISTJ - It's half-empty. Such a lazy waiter. Things could get done around here if people worked hard and took more responsibility!

ISFJ - No, I don't want this glass. I don't deserve it. (Really a ploy to make you feel guilty!)

ESTP - Water?!?! Bah! Give me Beer! HEY ZEKE! GOT ANY BUDWEISER? And bring out the darts - me and Johnny got a bet going on!

ESFP - (Not present to answer because he/she is out at a party)

ISTP - Eh. Just water. Needs to be spiked with some Jack Daniels though.

ISFP - (Adds a pinch of lemon) Salut! (Sips while listening to Mozart)

A Properly Made Sandwich

2008-06-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

I talked to Laura today. It was a very important conversation, because we hadn't talked in a while. During this conversation, Laura joined and became addicted to GoodReads.

Laura: *thinks about joining*
Me: thinks (evilly) about getting Laura to join in the addiction ;)
Laura: lol
I become addicted to stuff verrrry easily :P Beware.
*joins*
Me: *jumps in the air and clicks her heels*

And it was as simple as that!

Now on the title of this post: A Properly Made Sandwich.

Sandwiches are very important. That's why a properly made sandwich is so important. To me, at least. We'll talk about a simple turkey, cheese and lettuce sandwich, and the order the contents must be in:

On the first piece of BREAD, I put the MUSTARD.
On top of the MUSTARD goes the LETTUCE.
The TURKEY goes on top of the LETTUCE
Then the CHEESE
Then the other piece of BREAD.

It is very important that the lettuce and cheese are NOT next to each other. I couldn't say why, but it just IS. I don't mind it so much on hamburgers, but they are a whole different blog post.

The Midnight Dancers came out yesterday!!! We ordered our copy, and judging from past LuLu experience, the book should be here on June, the 9th.

Five Things

2008-05-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Five Things You Can Do With A Small Spatula With A Rubber Tip that Sane People Wouldn't Think Of:

1. If you are a teething baby, you can stick the rubber end in your mouth.
2. Get another one and use them as a violin and bow (you'll have to provide your own violin-sounds, though).
3. Use it as a sword.
4. Make a hanging mobile by hanging string from both ends.
5. Try to use it as an arrow, and see how far you can shoot it.

News, finally!

2008-05-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, we heard from Peter, the director of YCTWY (I don't feel like typing it all out right now) and Comedy of Errors. I'm to be Luce, a kitchen maid in The Comedy of Errors. It's a small part - YES! :D I'm so happy about that. This is my first play, and I don't think I'd be able to handle a big part.

Now I need to find The Comedy of Errors and read it.

And I need to get ready for the day. Late, late start today. *sigh*

Fingernail Biting and Les Miserables

2008-05-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to bite my nails in anticipation. I mentioned a while back that I went to an audition for You Can't Take It With You and The Comedy of Errors? I STILL haven't heard anything more about that, and I'm starting to wonder... Tell me, are you contacted even if you don't get a part? I don't care very much about not getting a part in either play (though like I've said before, I live in a small town and that seems rather unlikely), but this waiting is driving me crazy! EDIT- Just learned that You Can't Take It With You has been cast, but not Comedy of Errors.

*SOME LES MISERABLES SPOILERS* Last night we watched a 1952 version of Les Miserables. Hm... how can I say what I thought of it...nicely? I managed to get through the first part of the movie without too much, "What about such-and-such!?"s or "That's not in the book!"s but honestly. *sigh* The first thing they did that was upsetting was reuniting Cosette and Fantine. Sure, it's ha little appier that way, and I didn't mind it TOO terribly. The upsetting thing that happened around the same time was what didn't happen - we didn't see Valjean rescuing Cosette from the Thenardiers. As a matter of fact, they cut the Thenardier family out completely, except for Gavroche, who was in for a few minutes (and didn't die.) So no Eponine. It's a mystery to me how she can be so popular with fans of the musical (which turned her into a patient, deserving martyr suffering from the cruelty of Marius and Cosette) and so unpopular with the movie-makers. Very odd, indeed.

But all of this was bearable until it came to Marius. Valjean was just coming home to his little shack at the convent (he was oddly well-dressed) when there was some shooting in the street, and a strange (and rather goofy-looking) young man ran into his yard to escape, claiming that he was in trouble for calling the king a fat pig. "Oh, please," I said. "Please, please don't be Marius." "It is," my sister said with confident pessimism. But it wasn't! It was "Mar-ee-YOOS!" Ugh! That's how they said his name... it was unbearable. And he and Cosette? "Fifties fluff," as my mom put it. Javert wasn't too bad, though his suicide scene was. Valjean ran after him and saw his drowned body floating in the water, five seconds after he had watched him jump in. Can a person really drown in five seconds? He was right THERE and he didn't even try to save him. Bah.

And we MEANT to get the 1935 version from Netflix, but they sent us this one instead! It's really too bad. I don't think I'm particularly hard to please as a Les Mis fan, but when people go around leaving out characters and making it all happier than it ought to be, what am I supposed to do?

One good thing came of the movie: My dad and sister and I had an interesting discussion about epic stories. I'll post more about that some other time. Soon, I hope.

The Past Few Days

2008-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we went to Disneyland, "the happiest place in the world," as the t-shirts say. It rained and rained, my brother was scared of Pirates of the Caribbean and didn't want to go on any rides after that, and we had some arguments about where we ought to go next, etc. But all together, we had a really good time. I took some pictures in between the rain, which I will be posting in another post. :)

Then on Friday my siblings and I (excluding Baby Zoe) all left to spend the weekend at my grandparents' house. That was fun. :) My grandma has so many books! I had a lot of fun looking at them, though a few of them were so old that I was afraid to take them off the shelf! I read the play, The Miracle Worker, while I was there. I also read West Side Story, which was short and could be made shorter by skipping over the long, mushy songs. I would have read The King And I if I had the time, but I didn't. Maybe the library has it.

When we got home two things had happened: The Beggar of Volubilis had arrived - finally! I was supposed to read it first, but I got bored after about 50 pages, so I let my sister read it. She finished it in one night, of course. I finished it this morning.

The second thing? My parents had given our horse to the same guy we gave our other horse to. It feels weird, not arguing about whose turn it is to feed the horse(s).

Today my mom was cooking chicken in the kitchen, at about 1:30. She was talking about making eggrolls, and I was wondering why she was making dinner so early. I glanced at the oven clock. It said 7:30! "What?" I thought, "7:30? I mean, I know I slept late, but..." I think I scared my mom by gasping, "WHAT? 7:30? It CAN'T be..." But she told me to look at the clock above the kitchen door. The oven clock was wrong. Funny... I wonder how long that's been going on? I use that clock quite a lot...

It has taken me most of the day to write this post. I keep getting kicked off the computer, and I have to save it. But now my dad has gone fishing and has taken my little sister with him. Zoe is quietly....*looks around* being quiet. So is Noah. And my other sister is playing a video game, while my mom is... *looks around again* cleaning something. Quiet holiday. :)

The Midnight Dancers comes out in less than a week!

The Untitled, Unfascinating Blogpost

2008-05-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

Only a little boy like my brother would think of turning a big sister into a car. He used her arm as a stickshift, the gas pedal, and the brakes all in one. Quite impressive, if you ask me.

Today has been rather mundane and ordinary. I've been reading Five Little Pigs (or Murder In Retrospect ) by Agatha Christie. It's a medium-sized yellow paperback, so it just feels so different, as most of the Agatha Christies I've read have been small paperbacks or black hardcovers (my favorites! They're just perfect for respectable murder mysteries. Paperback whodunnit novels aren't quite so respectable-seeming.)

My sister and I have been watching The Music Man (1962). I liked the movie and the music a lot more than I thought I would. Our favorite?

Oh, we got trouble!
Right here in River City!
With a capital T and that rhymes with P
And that stands for POOL!

Nothing else to say: sorry for the disappointing post...

The Doctor Is In

2008-05-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Oh, Lucy. I'm so depressed. I don't know what to do.

[LUCY]
I think what you need most of all, Charlie Brown, is to come
right out and admit all of the things that are wrong with you.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
All right, I'll try
I'm not very handsome or clever, or lucid,
I've always been stupid at spelling and numbers.
I've never been much playing football or baseball
Or stickball, or checkers, or marbles, or ping-pong

I'm usually awful at parties and dances,
I stand like a stick or I cough, or I laugh,
Or I don't bring a present, or I spill the ice cream
Or I get so depressed that I stand and I scream...

Oh, how could there possibly be
One small person as thoroughly, totally, utterly
Blah as me?

[LUCY]
Well, that's ok for a starter.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
A starter?

[LUCY]
Certainly. You don't think that mentioning these few superficial
failings is going to do you any good, do you? Why, Charlie Brown,
You really have to delve.

You're stupid, self-centered and moody

[CHARLIE BROWN]
I'm moody

[LUCY]
You're terribly dull to be with

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Yes I am.
And nobody likes me,
Not Frieda, or Shermy, or Linus, or Schroeder-

[LUCY]
Or Lucy.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Or Lucy.

[LUCY]
Or Snoopy.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Or Sn-
Wait a minute. Snoopy likes me.

[LUCY]
He only pretends to like you because you feed him.
That doesn't count.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Or Snoopy.
Oh why- was I born just to be
One small person as thoroughly, totally, utterly-

[LUCY]
Wait!
You're not very much of a person...

[CHARLIE BROWN]
That's certain

[LUCY]
And yet there's a reason for hope.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
There's hope?

[LUCY]
For although you are no good at music,
Like Schroeder, or happy like Snoopy,
Or lovely like me,
You have the distinction to be
No one else but the singular, remarkable, unique
Charlie Brown!

[CHARLIE BROWN]
I'm me!

[LUCY]
Yes- it's amazingly true,
For whatever it's worth, Charlie Brown,
You're you.

[CHARLIE BROWN]
Gosh, Lucy you know something. I'm beginning to feel better already.
You're a true friend, Lucy, a true friend.

[LUCY]
That'll be five cents, please.

From You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Ha. Ha. Ha... :D

Prince Caspian (The Movie)

2008-05-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

SPOILER ALERT!

My sisters and I saw Prince Caspian with Hannah and Lainey, as I mentioned we would be doing in my previous post. My sister, Desirae was hopping and screaming with excitement, but I was feeling sick. Really stomach-sick, I mean. It wasn't nervousness, or excitement.

So... we got into the theatre without tripping over the rugs, or something dreadful like that. We had excellent seats in the very top row - why did we think it was going to be crowded? There was less than twenty people in the theatre.

When the movie actually started, I didn't even realize it. It was like I was numb or something. First, we see Queen Prunaprismia giving birth to Miraz's son, and then Cornelius waking Caspian up. It all moved very fast. During the credits, when Caspian was running away from the palace, with the Telmarine soldiers in pursuit, it started to hit me that this was IT! I had been waiting so long that I just gotten used to waiting... During that whole chase scene, I had my hands clasped underneath my chin, as if I was praying (I almost was). I finally put them down on the armrests, so I wouldn't look too strange.

Prince Caspian was just a better movie than The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It was more emotional, more majestic, and funnier. And there was Reepicheep. The changes They made didn't bother me as much as they should have. ;) I don't even feel guilty about saying that!

My sister and Lainey were giggling every time Susan and Caspian looked at each other. When the movie was over, Hannah, Lainey, and my sisters were all laughing about The Kiss, and they thought I was, too. I was shaking, and I had my hands over my mouth. I tried not to... but when the Regina Spektor song started playing, and the Pevensie's went through the door, I couldn't bear it - I started crying. We're not talking about a little tearing up; that happened when Caspian hugged Susan. After they all went through the door, I started CRYING. I said to Hannah, "Oh, my gosh! That was so..." "Are you laughing?" she said, laughing herself. "No! Crying! I'm...crying!" I said, trying to act as if I wasn't going to go into total hysterics. It didn't work. I put my head on my lap and just burst into tears. Courtney came up to me, "See! What'd I tell you! It was AWFUL!" (Meaning The Kiss)

"No!" I said, "It was wonderful!"
She looked rather disturbed, "What, the kissing?"
"No," I moved my hands wildly, "Everything. All of it... in general."
"Are you laughing or crying?" she asked, disbelievingly.
"Both!" I nearly shrieked.

It's hard to move on, in a way, after seeing it. I feel like I felt after I finished reading Waking Rose, and Anne of the Island. Sort of ... lost. But happy.

Assorted News and Updates

2008-05-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

I tried out for a play. Two plays, actually - The Comedy Of Errors and You Can't Take It With You. I will probably get a part in one of them, because there's so few people. I hope it's not mushy, though... Both roles I read at the audition were romantic leads. *gulp* However, I'm very happy that I went. When I was 10 I went to an audition and chickened out. *sigh* I had my song (Castle on A Cloud) all ready and everything. But when I saw the other little girls singing their songs with such feeling, I just couldn't do it. When I went to This Audition, I came in and almost left when the lady who greeted me handed me The Piece of Paper and said, "Could you fill this out, please?" I dropped the pen. Then, I filled it out, and started watching the people auditioning. It was Shakespeare. And funny. "I can't do this," I said to my mom. "You don't have to do this," she said. I didn't mean that I wanted to leave, and she knew it. So... Tuesday night was my first audition, and pretty much my first time acting. Exciting. :D

Some funny, semi-interesting conversations at my house:

Three-year-old Noah: "Blaaaaaauuugh! Mommy, Courtney won't let me brush her hair! Her hair is awful. I don't like it like that!"

Some boys were calling my little sister today and hanging up. My dad came home and put a stop to it. "Here," he said, "Let me answer it next time." We did. The phone rang, and he said, "San Francisco Police Department." Click. It was kind of funny... we don't even live in San Francisco!

Me, to my sister: "You're a lot more mature than some thirteen-year-olds your age."
Sister starts laughing hysterically.

We're seeing Prince Caspian TOMORROW! :D After a whole year of thinking we wouldn't be able to see it on May 16th... we ARE! And hopefully with Hannah and Lainey. (I would put a link to your blog, Lainey, but Blogger is being mean.)

The Midnight Dancers' first chapter is up on the website! (:D So is the prologue, but you have to hunt for it. (Hint, to Alyosha: It's on the chapter one page. On a picture. Find it, you. :P )

A Sticky Situation

2008-05-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I had a little adventure in the kitchen. I was home alone with my sister, and my sister was at the computer. If I had older, wiser, or nosier family members at home with me, it would not have happened. But I get brilliant ideas when I'm alone that turn out to be not so brilliant.

I was going to have some chocolate chip ice cream. I scooped some into a bowl, got out the hot fudge, and suddenly had one of those "brilliant" ideas. I decided that I would melt some caramel in the microwave and put it on my ice cream. I unwrapped four caramels and into the microwave they went. For only 20-30 seconds. I took them out. They did not look at all delicious... Part of the caramels had indeed melted and turned black and bubbly. I touched the black-and-bubbly part. OUCH. The phrase "blonde moment" comes to mind. You would think that I would be smart enough to do the math. My finger didn't hurt for very long, fortunately.

I melted the caramel some more and took them out of the microwave in a hurry when I started to hear a hissing noise in there. I stirred the caramel around, thinking, "This might work..." But in stirring the caramel around, I stirred in the black parts too. I ditched the whole idea. I put my bowl of ice cream into the freezer - I didn't need melted ice cream on top of everything else! I spooned some of the caramel into the trashcan, wrinkling my nose at the little black bits mixed into it. I then turned to the sink to puzzle over how best to clean the quickly-hardening caramel out of the little bowl. I REALLY didn't want anyone to know about my kitchen problems and stupidity. The spoon I had stirred the caramel with was pretty easy. But that bowl. *shudders* I soaked it in hot water, and scraped and scraped and soaked and... augh. I was so glad that I had cut my fingernails a few nights before, because I would certainly have broken several in the scraping process.

FINALLY I got all the caramel out, and either into the trash can or down the drain or vanished somehow or other. I ate my ice-cream without further decoration than hot fudge and enjoyed it very much. And I told my mother later that day. She thought it was pretty funny, but I don't think she would have thought it so funny if I had left it for her to clean.

So. That was my minor kitchen catastrophe for the day. At least, it seemed like a catastrophe at the time. It also seemed very interesting, but now it just seems stupid and dull. The moral of the story is: Never leave me alone in the kitchen for too long.

One Million Rosaries

2008-04-30T17:29:00.001-07:00

This was brought to my attention by Lady Rose.

From the St. Michael The Archangel Organization website:

The ONE MILLION ROSARIES FOR UNBORN BABIES prayer event is scheduled to happen on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008. The intention for this Rosary will be: For an end to the surgical and non-surgical killing of unborn babies. On the day of the prayer event, it is hoped at least one million people in the U.S.A. will be praying the Rosary within the same sixty minute time span

To register, just click on Register as A Participant on the sidebar. No personal information is needed, just click and you're in. :D I, my mother, and my sisters are all going to get up at 6 am on Saturday morning to pray the rosary! :D

A Bookshelf for Delaney - A Picture Blog

2008-04-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a girl named Delaney. She bought so many books that eventually she was buried alive in them. The End.

Luckily, that's not a true story (yet)! But it was beginning to look like it might be! Behold:

Yes, folks, that's about how many books I usually have stacked up beside my bed. And this is what I had in a bin under my bed:

We had talked about my desperate need for a bookshelf, but furniture is expensive. And I can't have any old bookshelf, you know. So last night I decided to do something about it.

In the closet in the room I share with my sister, there are two dress-up bins, (With clothing and costumes from when my mother was young), a bin full of shoes (most of which we have outgrown) and a bookshelf, which was more of a magazine/notebook/scrapbook/old book/paper shelf. It was very ugly. Last night we cleaned that out, moved the bins into the part of the closet where the bookshelf was, and moved the bookshelf so that we could actually get to it. We threw a lot of stuff away, and now all my old notebooks are hidden safely under my bed in a storage bin. Then ... we made this junk shelf into a real bookshelf, as my sister says!

(Just a note: I don't learn Latin from Latin For Dummies. I use Henle Latin.)

Aaahhh. Now, here's the pile by my bed; only books I'm reading, and books from the library.

I think I now know why there is that practice called "Spring Cleaning." There must be something about spring that shows up the dirtiness of your house. And spring is a time of newness.

(My apologies for the bad quality of the pictures. I had to edit them to make them brighter and not so ... yellow. *wrinkles her nose*)

Rest in God

2008-04-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee."

- St. Augustine.

Have a wonderful Sunday, resting from your week, resting in God.

Today, Saturday

2008-04-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today was amazing...

First, I got up at 5:30. Even that was kind of amazing. Me, my mom, my little sister, and my baby sister all got into the car at 6:15 and drove to Eagle Rock, California to see my godparents being accepted into the Dominican lay order.

The church, St. Dominic's, was beautiful. There were stained glass windows, statues, high ceilings, the works. It was so lovely, and so easy to concentrate on the Mass.

After that, my day got even better. There was a used booksale in a library next to the church. I came home with quite an armload of books. Read more about that here.

I've felt so... free lately.

The Sign of the Cross

2008-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

I believe it was St. Francis of Assisi who said that the Sign of the Cross is everywhere, if we're looking for it.

Today while doing math, I tried to see how many crosses I could see sitting in one place, in one half hour. Here are my results:

The sign of the cross:

On my notebook paper

The lowercase T in my last name (on my math paper)

The shape our wilting Easter lily’s leaves and stalk are making

Dried palm leaves from Palm Sunday folded and tied into a cross, hanging on the cork board

A guitar - the strings crossing the frets makes many crosses

The window panels on the back door

Seven signs of the cross in one room! That's something to be excited about!

Peter Pan (And The Promised Update)

2008-04-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

I don't really feel like talking about myself right now, but here...

I finished the rough draft for my research report on Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. FINALLY. I'm so glad... I've sent it into Seton for feedback before I re-write. Now hopefully I'll have time for some of my own writing.

My little sister wants to go to some summer camp with her best friend. Catholic, very conservative, very strict about modesty, which is cool. On one hand, I think: "OH MY! A week without her chatter... so much peace... sounds tempting... but no! I would miss her too much!" and the other hand thinks: "Argh! Why does she get all the adventures?" Oh, well. I hope she does get to go. :)

Catholic, Reluctantly is on the way from Amazon. I hope. They sent us an email yesterday saying that it would ship on the 24th, and later that day they sent another email saying it shipped yesterday, on the 15th. I'm hoping it'll come tomorrow - at the very earliest, mind you. (Funny. When I'm waiting for something in the mail I keep saying, "Oh, I know it might not come," to whoever reminds me that it mightn't, but then I'm all disappointed when the Thing I'm waiting for doesn't arrive... Hmm... )

The Fairy Tale Novels Forum is having a group reading of the books. :D Come and join us, if you can! We're hoping to finish around the time The Midnight Dancers is released. (This summer! It's getting closer! :D )

Lately I haven't had any peace. I feel restless a lot of the time, and don't feel relaxed unless I'm being passively entertained - watching a movie, or fooling around on the computer. I began to think, "Wow, how pathetic." I also began to lose interest in reading, because it made me think too much. Hmm. Something was definitely wrong.

Then one morning, in that moment between sleeping and waking, when you're starting to lose your hold on the dream you just had, I realized what my problem was:

I didn't want to grow up.

Seriously. All this time, I thought I was embracing growing up and becoming a woman and who God wanted me to be, and I wasn't going to be like my little sister who would probably rather go to Neverland and run wild with Peter and the Lost Boys than get married and get a job. It must have been something in the dream, but by that time I couldn't remember it. I really thought about it:

I've just got a job, working in a toystore.
I've just started high-school. (Well, not just started, but you know what I mean)
I have to memorize a lesson from the catechism every week for a confirmation class - and we have finals...this Sunday! Eek!
I'm learning to take responsibility for my actions, and really learn about my faith, and myself.

Sometimes I fool myself with the "I'm still just a kid, I can take my time for a few years more!" But not anymore, apparently. Who knows, perhaps Responsibility and I will never get to be Arm-In-Arm chums, but after realizing my problem, I don't feel so afraid of him anymore.

Okay. That's all for today, folks! I need to find out what Raskolnikov is up to now... and what happens to poor Sonia! And whether Razumihin has a happy ending. I probably won't find out tonight (about 150 pages of Crime & Punishment left) but at least if I can get a little bit further I can make a few guesses.

*wonders mournfully whatever happened to the notes she was taking on the book*

Rosie Thomas

2008-04-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

As soon as I have some money to spend I want to buy Rosie Thomas' CD These Friends of Mine. I think Much Farther To Go is such a pretty song. Some of the lyrics:

I have much farther to go
Everything is new and so unpredictable
I should just click my heels together and go home
But I'm not sure where that is anymore

Oh how I wish I could go back in time
To the night when I heard my mother cry
She held me in her arms
And we talked for some time
And I sang a song her mother sang to her

It goes, something about paper dolls and what men preffered
Something about the cross and how her Jesus died for her
Something about love and how it's worth fighting for
I wonder, does love like that exist anymore?

And I, I have much farther to go
And I, I'm so confused I know
I should just click my heels together and go home
But I lost my way
When I lost you

A real update soon... I promise...

Fairy Tales

2008-04-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Today at my aunt's house I read many fairy tales. When one sits down and reads (almost) a whole book of Grimm's fairy tales, there is a lot of repetition involved. For instance:

- They seem to like to turn people into birds, don't they? Especially large groups of brothers, whose sister must save them by not speaking for a number of years.

- There certainly are a lot of witches or beasts or villains who ask for a bride or a child in exchange for mercy or riches. I'm glad I haven't run across any.

- WHAT'S WITH THIS YOUNGEST CHILD THING!?!?! We Eldest Children can't help that we're born first! Why are the youngest - usually either the youngest daughter of 3, 6, 7, or 12 daughters- nearly always the prettiest, kindest, and sweetest of the lot? And why is the youngest son (again, usually of 3, 6, 7, or 12 brothers) nearly always the luckiest, the humblest, the bravest? Come on! There are a lot of good morals in fairy tales, such as "Share what you have and a weird dwarf guy won't cause you to cut your arm off" and "Use your brains and the witch won't kill you," and "Fight the dragon and you'll win the princess," but "Be the youngest, and fortune will smile upon you"!?

I feel very discouraged. Is there no hope for me? There are very few exceptions, and it's kind of depressing me. ;) What on earth did the Grimm brothers have against older daughters and sons? All fairy tale, legend, and myth writers, for that matter. I think we older siblings need a club, or something.

But even so: I. LOVE. FAIRY TALES. Now that I'm in a fairy tale mood I'm going to head over to SurLaLune Fairy Tales and see if they have an annotated version for any of the good 'uns I read today. : )