¡Ay, caramba!

I found this old writing of mine whilst cleaning out the external hard-drive I've commandeered from my family. I wrote this three and a half years ago...

SO MUCH TIME HAS PASSED.

Seriously, though. Where did it all go?

I am in my first year of college - about to finish it, no less (Spring Break is in four days, but who's counting?). I wrote this in the fall of my sophomore year. I wasn't thinking about graduating let alone college.

But actually, I am in awe.

Might need some more time to meditate how much I've changed - or haven't (I would still totally make a blog like this, but I can't keep this one regular, so...).

Anyway, I plan to post more gems like this in the future - Lord knows I've found plenty. Enough to last me through the summer, I would reckon.

Sparknotes

If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try, try again.
- William Edward Hickson

I should probably get this tattooed on my body at some point. I say this all the time...and mean it. This is the umpteenth time I've "revived" this blog, and I keep apologizing. What for? This is my blog for me, not for anyone else. Once they (whoever "they" are) pay me to keep up a blog, by golly I will keep it up! But until then, sporadic updates are all I can promise you.

I'm in college now - whoop de doo. No, I'll post about that later...much later. I like it, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

I just wanted to brag a bit and pay homage to the Sparknotes gods. Without them, I'm fairly certain that 96% of today's population of teenagers would not be where they are today with them. I admit, I have used them in place of reading the actual assigned book/novel/play/etc. C'est la vie. No shame in my game. I read other things, so I don't feel too bad for neglecting Plato's Symposium. Buuuut I did want to toot my own horn a bit *toot toot* that I read four chapters of the Virgil's Aeneid in fifteen minutes. The summaries, of course.

Now it's off to bed because physical exertion (a.k.a. ballet class) bright and early tomorrow morning.

S1 E01: Tony

Cleverly enough, each episode is titled after one of the main characters. The first episode is called "Tony" after the leading man, Tony Stonem. (That's funny! I wonder if he smokes a lot of weed...)

Thoughts within the first fifteen seconds of the episode:

I'm going to like this show. A lot.

A teenage boy lies in his bed, and the camera zooms out to reveal a duvet printed with two bodies completely starkers (that's British slang for naked - from 'stark naked'), a man and a woman. Honestly, I snickered. Then I thought: Hey, that guy looks familiar. Is he that guy from that zombie movie? Nah, can't be. Much less scrawny. Wait. No. It IS that guy. What's he doing here?

Fun fact: Turns out Nicholas Hoult, the lead in Warm Bodies, had a gig before his box-office monstrosity of a Romeo and Juliet parody.

The episode progresses, and you see this boy go about his morning routine. As I watched, I got a funny feeling that I wasn't going to like this kid - his attitude, the way he treats his parents, etc. Reminds me of Tom Sawyer. He does pay extra attention to his younger sister, though, and pranks his dad so she can sneak in from a night of cavorting. With this appearance, one can only begin to imagine the sorts of shenanigans that went on last night.

Must have been a rager.

Aww, look! It's a baby prostitute.

From what little I've read and heard about this show, parents are ridiculed and essentially portrayed as useless, bumbling idiots. Something to look forward to, I guess?

Anyway, after some fast-paced dialogue and introduction to some new characters (Confession: I had to turn the subtitles on at this point and pull out a British slang dictionary, so I included some new vocabulary in this post), we learn the whole goal of the episode is to get Sid, Tony's best mate, laid that night. Because it's a total disgrace to have a virgin as your best friend. Again, I get the feeling that Tony is a huge jerk who doesn’t deserve any friends, especially a loyal one like Sid. Has anyone read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?

Aaaaaaaaaand I'm pretty sure that sets the mood for the entire show. Weed references also pop up all over the episode like...well, like weeds.

I also think I got where the show’s title came from: skins (n) - cigarette papers but now more commonly joint papers. It’s either this, or it’s a reference to all the nudity/sex shenanigans. I’m predicting lots of weed.

So now I'm interested to see how the show's soundtrack turns out. We could have a total 60's throwback on our hands - sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Watch out, Mad Men.

Vocabulary lesson:

• sodding (adv/adj)- intensifier (like dropping the occasional f-bomb (but I'm not sure how severe it is, though)
• pillock(n) - idiot, old derivative of phallic insult
• James Blunt (n)- objectionable person (rhyming slang - hopefully obvious...?)
• If you don't know what rhyming slang is, please refer to the incredibly informative site of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang
• dozy (adj) - stupid
• dippy (adj) - silly, empty-headed
• bruv (n) - from "brother", term of address, usually for a friend
• spliff (n) - weed
• on tick - on credit (used with transactions and such)
• safe (adj) - awesome?
• drum 'n' bass (n) - rave type music?
• oik (n) - unsophisticated, uncultured, objectionable person
• fickety fick (n) - absolutely nothing, jack shit?
• tosser/tossa (n) - idiot
• Just thought I'd toss this one in the mix. (Heh.)
• bell-end/bellend (n) - idiot, derived from phallic insult (again, hopefully obvious...)
• cheers - thanks or goodbye
• bosh (n) - nonsense, rubbish

The questionable ones are my best guesses in context, of course.

And forget crashing your car into a bridge. Try accidentally unlocking the parking brake and rolling into the river. Much cooler, yeah?

Thanks to http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/ for keeping me a jive cat who's hip to the lingo.

Blogging "Skins"

For all of you who are completely unaware of the internet and its trends, for this series of posts I'm taking a proverbial page from Dan Bergstein's book blog titled "Blogging Twilight" and blogging about a new TV series I'm starting called Skins.

Personally, I have read the entire Twilight series (shout out to 1st book Bella - she is my favourite), but I admittedly have only read snippets of Mr. Bergstein's aforementioned blog.

Premise: he reads the entire series and blogs about his experience.

My thoughts: I should totally do this, too.
Secondary thoughts: That's a big commitment...
Tertiary thoughts: I'll add it to my bucket list!

This idea has popped us many a time for many a series (across several mediums), but never have I ever been in the midst of a bout of blogging AND beginning a new series. It's like a cosmic cerebral collision. Anyway, I'm eager about this project (sound familiar?) because I now have a direction AND it's manageable.

Manageable, you say? Elizabeth, you rarely (if ever) work on manageable projects.

I know, I know. But this one is different: Just like Dan reads a chapter (or so) and writes about it, I will watch an episode then blog about it. As easy as picking your nose. Because everyone knows making pie really isn't that easy.

Well that was crude.

Yes. But it got my point across.

(Sigh.)

Abdominal Muscles

I just finished Day 1 of an ab workout my friend recommended to me. It's actually a 30-day ab challenge, and I'm 17 days behind...

I skipped ahead to Day 3 because Days 1 and 2 sounded way too easy. We'll see how I feel tomorrow morning when I wake up, though. I'm in fairly good shape considering I haven't played sports for the last year and a half. And if I do two workouts per day and skip my rest days, then I'll be caught up by the end of the month (with two emergency rest days to spare).

*sigh*

Welcome to my life.

Shout out to: Moby, Ram Jam, and Neon Hitch for getting me through it.

I was feeling really low and moping around, so I logged off Netflix and decided to take some initiative. I made my bed (which instantly makes me feel better - a ray of sunshine when my clouds are gray kind of shenanigans), took down my hair (How can I do full sit-ups when my bun gets in the way?), and dove right in, rocking out to a steady beat. As I finished off my sit-ups, my abdominal muscles started pouting. After the crunches, they whimpered. During my leg raises, tears quietly streamed down their metaphorical faces. And by the time I collapsed after a 15s plank, they were sobbing hysterically.

Cut me some slack, okay? You don't know my life. You don't know how much cereal I want.

Go team, Elizabeth.

Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare

Oh, boy...

It's been quite some time since I last posted here in this little corner of the internet. Not that anyone sees it, but still. I feel some remorse for neglecting my child. Actually, this blog is still a toddler. No, a newborn. It may be two and a half years old, but the time and attention I give it makes it about two months old (and that's being generous...).

I've unearthed this jewel because I wish to embark on another 365 day journey that I may, in fact, fail. (Hey, I'm just being realistic.) But I may have figured this whole thing out - just take it one day at a time. Yeah, I'm a little late on that bandwagon, huh? But still, "better late than never" (the actual motto of my life).

Now I've gathered you together here today to announce my newest project:


LETTER WRITING.

^ I pulled out all the stops because this is an ancient art form, lost amidst the technology that enslaves us.


Yes, I will subject myself to a year's worth of carpal tunnel syndrome in order to hopefully resurrect this antiquated form of communication. And I have another surprise!

I've already written the first one. And I even put stickers on it. Nice, sparkly ones.

I wrote to my boss I worked with this summer for 5 weeks. Definitely sounds odd, but the relationship was anything but. She is a hybrid mom-sister-taskmaster, and she changed my life, so I decided to surprise her with a nice, handwritten note telling her how much I love her.

Now doesn't that just give you warm fuzzies all over?


Even though this sounds like a Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare, I take on this endeavor by my own accord and under no duress. Call me crazy. Call me old-fashioned. Just don't call me late for dinner.

First Week of School

Wow. Just wow. I just finished my first week of senior year, and I am exhausted. Granted, this week was only two day long, but still. I am totally wiped. It's not that I'm not excited for senior year; it's just that my schedule is crazy.

When I first got my schedule in August, I freaked out - from excitement, of course. Here's the breakdown: Advanced Studio Art, U.S. Christianity and Culture, Physics, Honors Microeconomics, Precalculus, Honors AP Spanish Language, and Honors AP English Language & Composition. I know that sounds extremely fully, but it's manageable. I dropped down this year from honors math and honors science because I wanted to have a less full schedule. I also wanted more time to devote to theater, my passion.


Anyway, the first day of school was incredibly overwhelming. All my classes seemed to go by so quickly, with teachers cramming rules and expectations for the new school year. They also doled out homework, quizzes, and tests like they were candy. I can see my schedule filling up like the Titanic...


I am so thankful that this week lasted a mere two days. Now that I'm done, though, I can't even imagine what next week's going to be like.

T Minus 3 Days and Counting...

I apologize for not posting any sooner, but things got a little crazy up in here. I finished all my APs (yay!), and I just finished my first final exam for this semester, morality. It was 150 objective questions and an essay in 1.5 hours. I wrote a 14-page review, so I better have gotten an A...

I have my Spanish final tomorrow morning and then math on Thursday. Math will be my last final, and then I am free! Summer is so close I can just taste it. It tastes like snoballs...

Not these snoballs:


http://chickaboomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/51Ef34Ta8ZL1.jpg

But these snoballs:

http://blog.pennlive.com/life/2008/09/large_CAFE-NOLA_snoballs.jpg

What are snoballs? Good question. I'm not even going to pretend to be an expert in this frozen field of summer treats. What I do know, however, is that snoballs are a type of shaved ice topped with flavored cane sugar and water. I also know that "shaved ice" is a category of icy desserts consisting of shaved (or even crushed) ice topped with some sort of flavored topping, consisting of either pure ingredients (such as cane sugar and water) or preservative-laden syrups. There are many levels of shaved ice, ranging from Hawaiian shaved ice (the most coarse) to snoballs (the finest shaved ice there is). So fine, that it feels like powdered snow. Actually, I'm pretty sure it is powdered snow.

Here are some of the different varieties (in increasing order of ice coarseness):

Snoball

http://yokoandkalea.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/matsumotos.jpg

"Snow cones are a variation of the shaved ice dessert commonly served throughout North America in paper cups or styrofoam cups."

http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/00/02/49/image_1549020.jpg


Raspas is a word derived from the Spanish verb raspar meaning "to scrape off." How cool is that?!

[Thank you, SpanishDict.com: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4172264529_0857b48e4e.jpg]



"Shave ice or Hawaiian shave ice is an ice-based dessert made by shaving a block of ice. While the product can resemble a snow cone, snow cones are made with crushed, rather than shaved, ice."

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/ShaveIce1.jpg
[Thank you, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shave_ice]


While I'm sure both types of snoballs are delicious, I'm definitely partial toward the icy snoballs. Sorry, Hostess. The pink coconut is a wee bit off-putting.

Except for this sculpture here. Somehow, it works.

http://www.freshcharacters.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/sno-ball_1.jpg

A Niagara Falls of Bread Pudding

Oh. My. Gosh.

I survived the 2012 AP Biology Exam.

I'm a little worse for the wear, but hey! I'm not the slobbering, incoherent mess I thought I'd be. This is a step up for me. A big step. A huge one, actually. I almost finished climbing the steps at Machu Picchu. Have you seen how many steps there are? It's phenomenal, breathtaking, and ridiculous all jelly-rolled into one.


http://www.socialmedia.biz/2007/12/16/in-tikal-temples-in-the-mist/

I only have one more AP Exam left and that's AP Language. I'm not too worried about it, actually. I'm not going to blow it off, though. Yes, I am that girl. The one who studies even though she doesn't have to. But I am other the other girl as well, the one who doesn't study for important things and somehow manages to fly by the seat of her pants? A gift, a talent, call it what you wish. I am so thankful that I got it - whatever it is.

Now, I have ten days left until my summer officially begins. I'm going to work my butt off because my mom promised me that she would buy me warm bread pudding with vanilla sauce from Café Express if I did. I mean, have you tried that stuff? My mouth waters like Niagara falls just looking at it.

http://dairyspot.com/cinnamon-raisin-bread-pudding-with-vanilla-pudding-sauce

Disclaimer: I could not find a 100% accurate picture of the restaurant's bread pudding, but this comes pretty darn close to what I last remember.

Productive Procrastination

Back again. I'm trying to keep a more regular schedule of blogging, whether it'll happen or not is a different story. "It doesn't hurt to try," does it? Well, in this case it doesn't. I can think of so many more cases where it would, but we're going to stay optimistic.

Blech.

Blame my sardonic mood on the fact that I have AP exams rapidly approaching. And by rapidly approaching,  I mean my first one is on Friday. Less than two days away. It's American History, a topic that I recently discovered a (previously nonexistent) passion for. I think it's my teacher, though. He's incredible. In junior high, I loathed U.S. History, but now I tolerate appreciate (dare I say it?) enjoy it. I may even consider studying it in college, a decision that come flying out of nowhere like those idiotic crows in the Windex commercials.

Anyway, I have a list of topics to blog about because I have frequent daily rants and raves about random topics, and all I want to do is impregnate you with my opinions. That's all anyone wants to do, right?

One of the things I want to give a brief rundown of is my list of things to do for summer.

Here it is:

1. Get in shape.
2. Organize my life.
3. Blog more.

Since three is my favourite number, I decided I would start there. My list is both completely and totally manageable and unmanageable at the same time, much like my life and the world in general, I suppose. I like this list because it is open to a wide variety of interpretations (all my own, of course), so I "technically" should be able to fail. I dislike failure. I really do.

That's all I have to say for now. Fortunately/unfortunately, I must go back to stuffing my brain with the history of American from the past 510 years.

Sweet Summertime

I have 18 more days 'til summer. A mere 2 1/6 weeks. That's not so bad, right? Wrong. So incredibly wrong. I took today off so that I could study for my AP exams.

That's right. I took off school, so I could study.

Does that make any sense? No, not really. But I'm pretty sure that students from severely academically rigorous schools, like my own, would understand. It's so hard to study for the APs while teachers are still assigning massive amounts of homework, tests, and quizzes. Sense this makes none.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest. I also needed a little break from studying. My next posts will include giant, unrealistic goals that I have no hopes of following but still want to do regardless.

Maybe this summer will change me. A new season. Time for me to turn over a new leaf, but which one? Who knows? You'll find out soon enough.

Day 4

I took this picture of this Thanksgiving-esque ribbon last year at my house. It has not beed digitally altered at all.

© 2010

Day 3

I took this picture of the Marine Corps Memorial in Washington, D.C. on a school trip my freshman year. It's been slightly altered. I lightened it, so you could better see the statues.

©2009

Day 2

I took this picture of a ladybug on my leg at Staten Island. I'm really proud of it because the macro is incredible.

©2009

Day 1

I took this picture in the garden out front of the Marriott in Jersey City, NJ.

©2009

365 Day Photo Challenge

Today begins my 365 Photo Challenge. I will post one of my photos every day for a whole year. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Small steps....

Halloween

Halloween by cheeriolink2 featuring petal tops

Lanvin petal top
$1,460 - net-a-porter.com

H M elastic waist skirt
£15 - hm.com

Dolce Vita platform shoes
$89 - bloomingdales.com

Dannijo clear crystal jewelry
£510 - net-a-porter.com

Sterling silver jewelry
428 SGD - shopthemag.com

Floral shawl
dawanda.com

Persian Rug

Persian Rug by cheeriolink2 featuring an oversized clutch

Manoush sequin dress
£272 - theoutnet.com

Oversized clutch
€70 - webstore.scotch-soda.com

Low Luv 14k gold ring
$80 - lespommettes.com

ASOS feather earrings
$21 - asos.com

Garden Gnome

Garden Gnome by cheeriolink2 featuring floral dresses

made this set off the shirt which reminded me of a garden

New Soul

New Soul by cheeriolink2 featuring proenza schouler bags

inspired by Yael Naim's "New Soul"