Put it with music and it's officially the best song ever.
Forget about the boy, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
No canary in a tree for me
This canary's ready to fly free
Cut the cord
Is that a man I once adored?
He's nothing but an albatross
No great loss
Double crosser
Forget about the boy
Pull the plug
Ain't he the one who pulled the rug
He's lower than an alley cat
Dirty rat
And I flatter
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
And in the moonlight
Don't you think about him
Sister, you're much better off without him
You can blow the blues a kiss goodbye
And put the sun back in the sky
For when he comes crawlin'
I'm not fallin'
Shout hooray and hallelu!
Now me and mister wrong are through
I'll find myself another beau
Who I know is no rover
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about -
Jimmy, oh Jimmy, Jimmy
Horace
Danny
Milton
Percy
Edgar
Timothy
Alfred
Vito Carbone
Benjamin Pratt, the third
Teddy Morgan
Barney Schreiber, C.P.A. *BEST LINE EVER!!!!!!!!!*
Jimmy, oh Jimmy, silly boy
Gee, what a real swell guy
Cut the cord, is that a man I once adored?
He's nothing but an albatross
No great loss, doublecrosser
Forget about the boy
Jimmy, oh Jimmy, what great joy
He makes my troubles fly
Pull the plug, ain't he the one who pulled the rug?
He's lower than an alley cat, dirty rat
And I flatter
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy!
Shout hooray and hallelu!
Now that me and mister wrong are through
I'll find myself another beau
Who I know is no rover
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
And in the moonlight don't you think about him
Sister you're much better off without him
You can blow the blues a kiss goodbye
And put the sun back in the sky
For when he comes crawlin'
I'm not fallin'
Hallelujah!
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy
Forget about the boy!
HUZZAH!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Huzzah! Hurray!!! I finished my 8 gup today!
So I did my 8 gup test today for tae kwon do. It wasn't NEARLY as hard as the 1st dan test was. Maybe it's because I was a vegetarian then and I was terrible at getting protein in my diet. Maybe it's because I had gatorade this time. Maybe it's because there were fewer people testing in the same room as me so it wasn't as rigorus. One would think that it would be more rigorous if there were fewer people, but it wasn't. Maybe it was because almost all of us were from the same dojang, even the tester. Well, whatever it was, the test went a lot better than last time.
For all of you who don't know, the 1st dan is the 1st degree, and 8 gup is like a quarter step above 1st degree. It's cooler than first degree but not quite as cool as 6 gup. But it wasn't entirely awesome. Like now my thumb on my right hand kind of hurts from sparring (which also went better than in March because I was sparring my friends almost the entire time, except for once), the back of my left hand kind of hurts from board breaking, since backfist was one of my moves, and my leg kind of hurt during sparring because of excessive use of blocking kicks.
It could have been worse, though. Another guy from my dojang did some really intense double handed thing for one of his board breaks and ended up like popping something in his wrist and it swelled up a lot. For a while I thought his wrist was broken because it was swelling a lot, but he said it didn't hurt as much as it did when he broke his arm. So I dunno. Either way, they put some ice on it and the swelling went down. But it was scary, partially because he's so intense when he's breaking boards, and partially because his wrist was swelling so much. I saw it after he was done breaking, and it was kind of bad. I looked away for a few seconds to watch my friend do some of her breaks, then when I looked back, it looked like someone had put half a baseball on his wrist.
And for some reason, I keep typing writs instead of wrist.
Maybe it's because my index finger kind of hurts from my breaks.
But I did break all of my boards, which was kind of amazing for me, because sparring and board breaking are my bad parts. I even managed to break spin axe kick on the first try, which is like the hardest kick ever. Except for spin round kick. And spin back kick. For spin round kick, you're hitting the board with the top of your foot, which is hard enough to break with, even if you're not doing the spin. Spin back kick is just like jump back kick or regular back kick, just with a spin that throws everything out of whack and makes it near impossible to hit anything right. I was nearly going to break with spin back kick, but then I decided to do jump back kick instead.
It's just easier.
And even though we had to do "high belt moves," if you just add a "jump" to the front of the name of any kick, it automatically makes it a "high belt move."
The annoying thing is that all the kicks that are reall fun are the ones that are hard to break with. Like spin back kick. Very fun, but I can't break with it for my life. Same with spin round kick. Plus spin round kick is very painful if you don't do it right and have to do the kick five times in a row before you break it. It's also painful if you do do it right. And it's also painful if you do it right but then miss the target and end up hitting the side of the board. That's the most painful one.
Anyway, afterwards we went to get ice cream. We usually would eat it at the place, but as my dad was in a hurry, we got it in a carton. And my fingers were hurting, so the cartons served as ice packs.
Okay, I'm going now.
For all of you who don't know, the 1st dan is the 1st degree, and 8 gup is like a quarter step above 1st degree. It's cooler than first degree but not quite as cool as 6 gup. But it wasn't entirely awesome. Like now my thumb on my right hand kind of hurts from sparring (which also went better than in March because I was sparring my friends almost the entire time, except for once), the back of my left hand kind of hurts from board breaking, since backfist was one of my moves, and my leg kind of hurt during sparring because of excessive use of blocking kicks.
It could have been worse, though. Another guy from my dojang did some really intense double handed thing for one of his board breaks and ended up like popping something in his wrist and it swelled up a lot. For a while I thought his wrist was broken because it was swelling a lot, but he said it didn't hurt as much as it did when he broke his arm. So I dunno. Either way, they put some ice on it and the swelling went down. But it was scary, partially because he's so intense when he's breaking boards, and partially because his wrist was swelling so much. I saw it after he was done breaking, and it was kind of bad. I looked away for a few seconds to watch my friend do some of her breaks, then when I looked back, it looked like someone had put half a baseball on his wrist.
And for some reason, I keep typing writs instead of wrist.
Maybe it's because my index finger kind of hurts from my breaks.
But I did break all of my boards, which was kind of amazing for me, because sparring and board breaking are my bad parts. I even managed to break spin axe kick on the first try, which is like the hardest kick ever. Except for spin round kick. And spin back kick. For spin round kick, you're hitting the board with the top of your foot, which is hard enough to break with, even if you're not doing the spin. Spin back kick is just like jump back kick or regular back kick, just with a spin that throws everything out of whack and makes it near impossible to hit anything right. I was nearly going to break with spin back kick, but then I decided to do jump back kick instead.
It's just easier.
And even though we had to do "high belt moves," if you just add a "jump" to the front of the name of any kick, it automatically makes it a "high belt move."
The annoying thing is that all the kicks that are reall fun are the ones that are hard to break with. Like spin back kick. Very fun, but I can't break with it for my life. Same with spin round kick. Plus spin round kick is very painful if you don't do it right and have to do the kick five times in a row before you break it. It's also painful if you do do it right. And it's also painful if you do it right but then miss the target and end up hitting the side of the board. That's the most painful one.
Anyway, afterwards we went to get ice cream. We usually would eat it at the place, but as my dad was in a hurry, we got it in a carton. And my fingers were hurting, so the cartons served as ice packs.
Okay, I'm going now.
Friday, November 20, 2009
An End of A Story
Okay, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to use this ending for the story, nor am I even done with the story in question. I just thought it was a cool ending, because it's like an ending at the beginning sort of thing. It's the Lord of the Rings type one. So yeah.
Faug and Valin decided to go to the Lazy Dog on Midsummer's Eve the next year, exactly five years after their adventure had started. Strangely enough, they were seated at the exact same table as they had been that fateful night.
Then Faug noticed a shadowed figure dressed all in black in the corner, with a hood over their eyes.
Faug grinned. He kicked Valin under the table and pointed discreetly. Valin turned cautiously, and grinned once he saw where his brother had been pointing. They knew the drill from there.
They sat there talking very late that night. Then Faug glanced over to the corner again, but the figure was gone.
Then he heard a soft voice in his ear.
"Room fifteen," whispered a voice he recognized. "Five minutes. Don't be late, or else suffer the consequences."
Faug nodded, and grinned.
Valin looked questioningly at his brother.
"Upstairs," he muttered. "Five minutes."
They obliged.
Entering room fifteen, they saw the figure exactly as they had seen her on the night they had met her five years ago-her back to them, staring out the window. She turned at the sound of the door. She was visibly grinning now.
The two brothers grinned back, glad to see the fairy-elf. She didn't seem very different, except for maybe a bit taller and filled out.
"I've got something to show you," she said.
"What?" Valin wondered.
"Do you remember my scars?" she asked.
They both nodded, remembering the scars that had marred her entire face for thousands of years. Now, Shyasha lowered her hood.
The scars had disappeared.
"Where did they go?" Faug wondered.
"I unfroze," she explained. "And I guess that activated the magic. If I'd learned to move on, they'd go away."
"But you and Telsiel are still...?" Valin asked, his voice trailing off.
Shyasha grinned again. "Yes, we are," she said. "In fact...."
She held up her left hand. A small gold ring shone on her fourth finger.
"Seriously?" Valin laughed. Faug just gaped. Somehow, marriage and Shyasha did not seem to go together in his head. He could not see her in a white dress at all, just as he could not see how his brother could do something as weird as knitting. But, as he had come to realize, people could surprise you.
"Yes," she said, laughing as well. "I couldn't believe it either, at first. But it's set for about two weeks from now."
"But how did your scars disappear?" Faug asked.
"I just had to forgive him, basically," Shyasha told him. "And unfreeze. The two had to go together. If I forgave him but didn't unfreeze, they'd still be there, and if I unfroze but I didn't forgive him, it wouldn't work either. But I only unfroze for about a year."
"So you're sixteen now, then?" Faug asked.
"Actually, if you remember correctly," Shyasha said, her grin broadening, "I'm technically four thousand seven hundred and eighteen. But yes, one can call me sixteen now."
"Did Telsiel de-freeze?" Valin asked.
"Yes," Shyasha said. "He's frozen as sixteen as well. It would have been awkward, you see, if he was still 45 or something."
Okay, that's all I can do for now.
Faug and Valin decided to go to the Lazy Dog on Midsummer's Eve the next year, exactly five years after their adventure had started. Strangely enough, they were seated at the exact same table as they had been that fateful night.
Then Faug noticed a shadowed figure dressed all in black in the corner, with a hood over their eyes.
Faug grinned. He kicked Valin under the table and pointed discreetly. Valin turned cautiously, and grinned once he saw where his brother had been pointing. They knew the drill from there.
They sat there talking very late that night. Then Faug glanced over to the corner again, but the figure was gone.
Then he heard a soft voice in his ear.
"Room fifteen," whispered a voice he recognized. "Five minutes. Don't be late, or else suffer the consequences."
Faug nodded, and grinned.
Valin looked questioningly at his brother.
"Upstairs," he muttered. "Five minutes."
They obliged.
Entering room fifteen, they saw the figure exactly as they had seen her on the night they had met her five years ago-her back to them, staring out the window. She turned at the sound of the door. She was visibly grinning now.
The two brothers grinned back, glad to see the fairy-elf. She didn't seem very different, except for maybe a bit taller and filled out.
"I've got something to show you," she said.
"What?" Valin wondered.
"Do you remember my scars?" she asked.
They both nodded, remembering the scars that had marred her entire face for thousands of years. Now, Shyasha lowered her hood.
The scars had disappeared.
"Where did they go?" Faug wondered.
"I unfroze," she explained. "And I guess that activated the magic. If I'd learned to move on, they'd go away."
"But you and Telsiel are still...?" Valin asked, his voice trailing off.
Shyasha grinned again. "Yes, we are," she said. "In fact...."
She held up her left hand. A small gold ring shone on her fourth finger.
"Seriously?" Valin laughed. Faug just gaped. Somehow, marriage and Shyasha did not seem to go together in his head. He could not see her in a white dress at all, just as he could not see how his brother could do something as weird as knitting. But, as he had come to realize, people could surprise you.
"Yes," she said, laughing as well. "I couldn't believe it either, at first. But it's set for about two weeks from now."
"But how did your scars disappear?" Faug asked.
"I just had to forgive him, basically," Shyasha told him. "And unfreeze. The two had to go together. If I forgave him but didn't unfreeze, they'd still be there, and if I unfroze but I didn't forgive him, it wouldn't work either. But I only unfroze for about a year."
"So you're sixteen now, then?" Faug asked.
"Actually, if you remember correctly," Shyasha said, her grin broadening, "I'm technically four thousand seven hundred and eighteen. But yes, one can call me sixteen now."
"Did Telsiel de-freeze?" Valin asked.
"Yes," Shyasha said. "He's frozen as sixteen as well. It would have been awkward, you see, if he was still 45 or something."
Okay, that's all I can do for now.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Post # 251
Well, then. I'm kind of bored right now and have nothing to do. So here I am. Um..
What now?
I like pie.
I'm wearing a pirate bandanna today. Yes, I'm allowed to do that. It's fairly awesome. For some reason, my brother's middle school didn't allow them to wear bandannas because a bandanna apparently counts as a gang symbol and they didn't want anything related to gangs at their pristine, too-early-start-time suburban middle school. True, they let out at like two thirty, and we let out at like four, but whatever. The point is, it's not likely that there are going to be gangs in this area of this state, not even in the middle school where bandannas aren't allowed.
So anyway, I have no idea what to say now. Um... I'm going to go search around some random blogs and then come back and report about anything that sparks my interest.
Okay, I'm back. I have just found a poem by Robert Frost on some other blogger's blog. It is a very awesome poem that is also on one of the Senior Walls. Here it is.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay
It kind of reminds me of "all that is gold" by JRR Tolkien.
All that is gold does not glitter
not all who wander are lost
the old that is strong does not wither
deep roots are not reached by the frost
from the ashes a fire shall be woken
a light from the shadows shall spring
renewed shall be the blade that was broken
the crownless again shall be king
So yeah.
I'm going now.
What now?
I like pie.
I'm wearing a pirate bandanna today. Yes, I'm allowed to do that. It's fairly awesome. For some reason, my brother's middle school didn't allow them to wear bandannas because a bandanna apparently counts as a gang symbol and they didn't want anything related to gangs at their pristine, too-early-start-time suburban middle school. True, they let out at like two thirty, and we let out at like four, but whatever. The point is, it's not likely that there are going to be gangs in this area of this state, not even in the middle school where bandannas aren't allowed.
So anyway, I have no idea what to say now. Um... I'm going to go search around some random blogs and then come back and report about anything that sparks my interest.
Okay, I'm back. I have just found a poem by Robert Frost on some other blogger's blog. It is a very awesome poem that is also on one of the Senior Walls. Here it is.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay
It kind of reminds me of "all that is gold" by JRR Tolkien.
All that is gold does not glitter
not all who wander are lost
the old that is strong does not wither
deep roots are not reached by the frost
from the ashes a fire shall be woken
a light from the shadows shall spring
renewed shall be the blade that was broken
the crownless again shall be king
So yeah.
I'm going now.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Chance? I think not.
Okay, this is really weird. So I was looking at random blogs today (yes, I know I'm weird, I've already heard that one quite a few times), and I somehow managed to happen upon a Renaissance writing blog thing, about, as far as I know, Shakespeare- era writing and such. And they had a Shakespeare Sonnet of the Day. And do you know what sonnet it was? You guessed it. Sonnet 133. Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan, for that deep wound it gives my friend and me, is't not enough to torture me alone, but a slave to slavery my sweetest friend must be. Yes, the very same. It was the weirdest thing ever. And no less ironic that we started new books today in English, and the one I am doing is Romeo and Juliet. This is the WEIRDEST day EVER. Or rather, 'tis the most strange day in these many years past. I don't know how Shakespeare would say it. As of yet, I'm really bad at talking in Shakespeare style.
I really wish English was Chinese. The Chinese language has barely changed in the zillion years that it's been around, and here I am, being completely befuddled by what some poet wrote four hundred years ago. The only line that I actually get is when Juliet says, "How canst thou be out of breath when thou hast breath enough to tell me that thou art out of breath?"
I'm not entirely sure that was right. But it's the gist of it, anyway. Like, how can the nurse tell Juliet that she's out of breath when she has enough breath to say that she's out of breath? Something like that, anyway.
Life is so weird.
I really wish English was Chinese. The Chinese language has barely changed in the zillion years that it's been around, and here I am, being completely befuddled by what some poet wrote four hundred years ago. The only line that I actually get is when Juliet says, "How canst thou be out of breath when thou hast breath enough to tell me that thou art out of breath?"
I'm not entirely sure that was right. But it's the gist of it, anyway. Like, how can the nurse tell Juliet that she's out of breath when she has enough breath to say that she's out of breath? Something like that, anyway.
Life is so weird.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Part 3 of the fairy story
I know it's been a while since I last posted anything literary, much less something that was relevant to the Creative Writing story. We haven't been doing the stories lately, so I haven't worked on it a lot. I did this bit a while ago when we were still working on it, near the end of the first quarter.
So here it is.
That night, we pitched camp near the edge of a clearing. There were trees all around us, except for the clearing. It didn't look happy.
Our camp fire was in the middle of the clearing. I was delegated the task of cooing even though I was terrible at it. We had bottomless canteens, thanks to Eohu's magic, so I just dumped a bunch of water into the pot and put in some vegetables that Eohu conjured out of nowhere at my request, along with some tofu. I'm a vegetarian, if you haven't noticed.
Garrett took one look in the pot and said, "What is that?"
"Soup," I said. I didn't know what else to call it.
"Where's the protein?" he demanded. "The meat and stuff? And what's that white stuff?"
"It's tofu," I told him. "that's your protein."
"Does it really matter?" Simon wondered.
"Yes, it does," Garrett insisted. I glanced at Eohu. He conjured up a bag of nuts and threw it at Garrett.
"There's your protein," he said to Garrett.
"You can avoid the tofu if you want to," I told him. "But if we keep it for a few days, it won't taste gross anymore, I swear."
"Tofu isn't protein," Garrett said. "and neither are nuts, for that matter," he added, looking in the bag.
"Actually, they both count," I snapped. "And there are beans in here, too. But I don't eat meat, and if you don't like it, fine. You can make dinner tomorrow, and I'll make up random excuses not to eat it."
We were all hungry, and it showed. When I dished out the food, Simon and Eohu accepted their bowls with thanks and had swallowed half of their bowls in thirty seconds. Garrett took his without saying anything, and sat there glaring at it while the rest of us ate.
"Look," I said, "If you're not going to eat it, you're not gonna have any energy tomorrow and you're still going to be in a bad mood, regardless of the protein content of whatever you've been given. Just try it, all right?"
Garrett looked up sullenly.
Come on, you've got to eat something," I insisted. "You don't have to like it. You just have to eat it, that's all. It's not toxic or anything, I swear." I looked at him pleadingly across the fire. "Please?"
Garrett sighed.
"What's up?" I asked.
"You remind me of my other," he said finally. "She always had to talk me into eating whatever she made for dinner. She's with the others now. A prisoner."
"If you want to save her, you're going to have to keep up your strength," I told him. "Which means you're going to have to eat some of those," I nodded at the bag of nuts, "and then get some sleep, all right?"
Garrett reluctantly put his hand into the bag.
"Lily, we need to talk about your magic," Eohu said.
"What about it?" I asked. I wasn't aware that I actually had any magic, but then, I wasn't aware that I was a fairy until last night.
"Well, you need to learn to use it," Eohu said. "You're a fairy, remember?"
"How about we work on it tomorrow?" I said. "When we actually have time."
"All right," Eohu agreed.
I took the flute out again. I don't know why I had the sudden urge to play it, but I did. I was about to put it to my lips when Simon said, "What was that noise?"
I put down the flute and listened. Something big was coming our way, crashing through the trees, very fast.
Simon reached for his bow and quiver as he rose. Garret pulled out his sword as he got to his feet. Eohu just stood up. I followed suit, unsure what else to do. They were all staring at the same spot towards where the sound was coming from-across the campfire from where I had been sitting. Next to me, Eohu sprouted wings. If I hadn't been scared about whether or not we were going to die, I would have looked at the cool brown-and-orange pattern more closely, but now wasn't the time. All I had time to think was that color combination like that of a monarch butterfly.
Then a troll stamped into the clearing. Twenty feet tall, with mottled gray skin and only a loincloth around its waist and a club in its hand, it paused when it saw the four of us on the ground below it. Cocking its head, it crouched down and peered in to the pot that held the dinner leftovers, disregarding the still-hot coals around it.
Then it said, in a deep voice that made the ground shake, "Is that vegetable soup that you've got there? Can I have some?"
We all stared at the troll in disbelief. Since when did trolls like vegetable soup, vegetarian style?
"um...sure," I said, unsure. "Go ahead."
"Thank ye kindly, miss," said the troll, in a kinder voice than one would expect to come out of a troll. I thought I heard a bit of a British accent in his voice, but I wasn't sure. Who would have thought that a troll would be British?
The troll picked up the pot and poured the rest of the steaming soup into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. Putting down the pot, the troll said, "Ar, that's better. I suppose I'm supposed to do you lot a favor. So what'll it be? Restored thrones? Enemies dead? Powdered hen's teeth?"
We kept staring in stunned disbelief. Clearly, none of the others was expecting anything like this at all. I, for one, had never been aware that if you gave food to a troll it would grant you a favor. I thought that it would eat the food and then just club you whenever it felt like it just to keep things simple.
"Well, don't all say something at once," the troll said.
"Uh... can you give us a second?" I asked. The troll nodded.
"Let's get him to piggy back us to Maldan's stronghold," I suggested as soon as the boys had turned their eyes away from the troll and the troll's back had turned.
"No, let's get it to make a fool of itself," Garrett sniggered.
"Very funny," I said sarcastically. "Let's get a tutu to match, and you can take it to the ballet."
"How about-" Simon began to say.
"Hey, I know!" Garrett said suddenly. "Let's get it to carry us there!"
"That's what I said, dumb butt," I said sharply. "And Simon was about to say something, by the way."
"Oh, right," Garrett said.
"Anyway, my idea was that maybe-" Simon began again.
"So how about my idea, you guys?" Garret interrupted.
"Garrett!" I yelled, so loudly that the troll turned around.
"You done yet?" it asked.
"Not yet," I told it.
"What?" Garrett protested.
"Shut up while other people are talking!" I told him. "And that includes Simon. It's basic respect, for your information. I thought they taught you that in chivalry training."
"I didn't hear him," Garrett complained.
"Shut your mouth and listen, then," I snapped. "Go ahead," I said to Simon.
"Well, I was thinking that we could have the troll piggy back us to Maldan's stronghold, and then give it more food, and then have it fight with us or for us or whatever, if we need it to," Simon said in a rush. It seemed that he was scared that he'd be interrupted if he talked at a normal pace.
"I like that," Eohu told him.
"Same," I agreed. Simon beamed We all looked at Garrett, even though it didn't really matter whether we got his consent-it was already a majority vote.
"Why's everyone looking at me?" he wondered, looking up from his intense study of his boot's laces.
"Didn't you hear what Simon said?" I asked.
"No," Garrett said unabashedly. "Who's Simon?"
Simon bowed his head, all delight gone from his face.
I slapped Garrett right across the face.
"Ouch!" he cried.
"Next time pay attention," I ordered.
So here it is.
That night, we pitched camp near the edge of a clearing. There were trees all around us, except for the clearing. It didn't look happy.
Our camp fire was in the middle of the clearing. I was delegated the task of cooing even though I was terrible at it. We had bottomless canteens, thanks to Eohu's magic, so I just dumped a bunch of water into the pot and put in some vegetables that Eohu conjured out of nowhere at my request, along with some tofu. I'm a vegetarian, if you haven't noticed.
Garrett took one look in the pot and said, "What is that?"
"Soup," I said. I didn't know what else to call it.
"Where's the protein?" he demanded. "The meat and stuff? And what's that white stuff?"
"It's tofu," I told him. "that's your protein."
"Does it really matter?" Simon wondered.
"Yes, it does," Garrett insisted. I glanced at Eohu. He conjured up a bag of nuts and threw it at Garrett.
"There's your protein," he said to Garrett.
"You can avoid the tofu if you want to," I told him. "But if we keep it for a few days, it won't taste gross anymore, I swear."
"Tofu isn't protein," Garrett said. "and neither are nuts, for that matter," he added, looking in the bag.
"Actually, they both count," I snapped. "And there are beans in here, too. But I don't eat meat, and if you don't like it, fine. You can make dinner tomorrow, and I'll make up random excuses not to eat it."
We were all hungry, and it showed. When I dished out the food, Simon and Eohu accepted their bowls with thanks and had swallowed half of their bowls in thirty seconds. Garrett took his without saying anything, and sat there glaring at it while the rest of us ate.
"Look," I said, "If you're not going to eat it, you're not gonna have any energy tomorrow and you're still going to be in a bad mood, regardless of the protein content of whatever you've been given. Just try it, all right?"
Garrett looked up sullenly.
Come on, you've got to eat something," I insisted. "You don't have to like it. You just have to eat it, that's all. It's not toxic or anything, I swear." I looked at him pleadingly across the fire. "Please?"
Garrett sighed.
"What's up?" I asked.
"You remind me of my other," he said finally. "She always had to talk me into eating whatever she made for dinner. She's with the others now. A prisoner."
"If you want to save her, you're going to have to keep up your strength," I told him. "Which means you're going to have to eat some of those," I nodded at the bag of nuts, "and then get some sleep, all right?"
Garrett reluctantly put his hand into the bag.
"Lily, we need to talk about your magic," Eohu said.
"What about it?" I asked. I wasn't aware that I actually had any magic, but then, I wasn't aware that I was a fairy until last night.
"Well, you need to learn to use it," Eohu said. "You're a fairy, remember?"
"How about we work on it tomorrow?" I said. "When we actually have time."
"All right," Eohu agreed.
I took the flute out again. I don't know why I had the sudden urge to play it, but I did. I was about to put it to my lips when Simon said, "What was that noise?"
I put down the flute and listened. Something big was coming our way, crashing through the trees, very fast.
Simon reached for his bow and quiver as he rose. Garret pulled out his sword as he got to his feet. Eohu just stood up. I followed suit, unsure what else to do. They were all staring at the same spot towards where the sound was coming from-across the campfire from where I had been sitting. Next to me, Eohu sprouted wings. If I hadn't been scared about whether or not we were going to die, I would have looked at the cool brown-and-orange pattern more closely, but now wasn't the time. All I had time to think was that color combination like that of a monarch butterfly.
Then a troll stamped into the clearing. Twenty feet tall, with mottled gray skin and only a loincloth around its waist and a club in its hand, it paused when it saw the four of us on the ground below it. Cocking its head, it crouched down and peered in to the pot that held the dinner leftovers, disregarding the still-hot coals around it.
Then it said, in a deep voice that made the ground shake, "Is that vegetable soup that you've got there? Can I have some?"
We all stared at the troll in disbelief. Since when did trolls like vegetable soup, vegetarian style?
"um...sure," I said, unsure. "Go ahead."
"Thank ye kindly, miss," said the troll, in a kinder voice than one would expect to come out of a troll. I thought I heard a bit of a British accent in his voice, but I wasn't sure. Who would have thought that a troll would be British?
The troll picked up the pot and poured the rest of the steaming soup into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp. Putting down the pot, the troll said, "Ar, that's better. I suppose I'm supposed to do you lot a favor. So what'll it be? Restored thrones? Enemies dead? Powdered hen's teeth?"
We kept staring in stunned disbelief. Clearly, none of the others was expecting anything like this at all. I, for one, had never been aware that if you gave food to a troll it would grant you a favor. I thought that it would eat the food and then just club you whenever it felt like it just to keep things simple.
"Well, don't all say something at once," the troll said.
"Uh... can you give us a second?" I asked. The troll nodded.
"Let's get him to piggy back us to Maldan's stronghold," I suggested as soon as the boys had turned their eyes away from the troll and the troll's back had turned.
"No, let's get it to make a fool of itself," Garrett sniggered.
"Very funny," I said sarcastically. "Let's get a tutu to match, and you can take it to the ballet."
"How about-" Simon began to say.
"Hey, I know!" Garrett said suddenly. "Let's get it to carry us there!"
"That's what I said, dumb butt," I said sharply. "And Simon was about to say something, by the way."
"Oh, right," Garrett said.
"Anyway, my idea was that maybe-" Simon began again.
"So how about my idea, you guys?" Garret interrupted.
"Garrett!" I yelled, so loudly that the troll turned around.
"You done yet?" it asked.
"Not yet," I told it.
"What?" Garrett protested.
"Shut up while other people are talking!" I told him. "And that includes Simon. It's basic respect, for your information. I thought they taught you that in chivalry training."
"I didn't hear him," Garrett complained.
"Shut your mouth and listen, then," I snapped. "Go ahead," I said to Simon.
"Well, I was thinking that we could have the troll piggy back us to Maldan's stronghold, and then give it more food, and then have it fight with us or for us or whatever, if we need it to," Simon said in a rush. It seemed that he was scared that he'd be interrupted if he talked at a normal pace.
"I like that," Eohu told him.
"Same," I agreed. Simon beamed We all looked at Garrett, even though it didn't really matter whether we got his consent-it was already a majority vote.
"Why's everyone looking at me?" he wondered, looking up from his intense study of his boot's laces.
"Didn't you hear what Simon said?" I asked.
"No," Garrett said unabashedly. "Who's Simon?"
Simon bowed his head, all delight gone from his face.
I slapped Garrett right across the face.
"Ouch!" he cried.
"Next time pay attention," I ordered.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Official Element of Awesomeness
I had to do a project on Yttrium over the weekend, and it's actually really interesting- mixed with europium, it goes into fireproof bricks. Mixed with iron, it's in the red pixels that you see when you look really close at your TV. It's in lasers, camera lenses, radar, and goes into making garnets, aka fake diamonds. Its melting point is around 1523 degrees Celsius, and its boiling point is about 3336 degrees Celsius. Yttrium 90, which is somewhat unstable and radioactive, is more precise than a scalpel and is used in surgeries where they have to cut the pain transmission nerves in the spine. Y 90 is also used in cancer pills because of its radioactivity. It will attach itself to the cancer cells and destroy them, kind of like chemotherapy except from the inside out.
Yttrium in the air around us in a very small percentile, as well as in the human body and is about 4 ppm in human bones and breast milk and around 30 ppm in salt water. It is only dangerous if it's finely ground and the room temperature is above 400 degrees Celsius.
It was picked up in rock form by Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787 in a quarry near Ytterby, Sweden, who thought it was Tungsten and sent it to some chemists for closer inspection. Johan Gadolin studied it and published his findings on Yttrium in 1794.
Yttrium an oxide and is never naturally found by itself, always mixed with other chemicals. Its only truly stable isotope is Y 89, which is its only naturally occurring isotope as well. In its natural form it's a rock that is metallic silver in color.
Yttrium ROCKS!
Yttrium in the air around us in a very small percentile, as well as in the human body and is about 4 ppm in human bones and breast milk and around 30 ppm in salt water. It is only dangerous if it's finely ground and the room temperature is above 400 degrees Celsius.
It was picked up in rock form by Carl Axel Arrhenius in 1787 in a quarry near Ytterby, Sweden, who thought it was Tungsten and sent it to some chemists for closer inspection. Johan Gadolin studied it and published his findings on Yttrium in 1794.
Yttrium an oxide and is never naturally found by itself, always mixed with other chemicals. Its only truly stable isotope is Y 89, which is its only naturally occurring isotope as well. In its natural form it's a rock that is metallic silver in color.
Yttrium ROCKS!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Raise the Roof-Carbon Leaf
Raise the roof, that I might see the stars
To gain wisdom, to see things for what they are
Please, I need proof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Trapped in the snare with too much dreaming to bear
Fearful and frantic, hopeless and a romantic
Inspired but tired, I run this wide-open course
Like the sagging spirit of an older horse
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Peel back this backdrop, like the lids from my eyes
Put you in plain view, let me visualize
Touch me again in my dreams till I feel
Touch me again till I wake and it's real
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
The wisest advice to me that I didn't reach
Was to lock up the heart, but keep the key within reach
Touch me again in my dreams till I feel
Touch me again till I wake and it's real
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Raise the roof
To gain wisdom, to see things for what they are
Please, I need proof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Trapped in the snare with too much dreaming to bear
Fearful and frantic, hopeless and a romantic
Inspired but tired, I run this wide-open course
Like the sagging spirit of an older horse
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Peel back this backdrop, like the lids from my eyes
Put you in plain view, let me visualize
Touch me again in my dreams till I feel
Touch me again till I wake and it's real
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
The wisest advice to me that I didn't reach
Was to lock up the heart, but keep the key within reach
Touch me again in my dreams till I feel
Touch me again till I wake and it's real
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Shut your mouth
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Raise the roof
Dance till you fall
Love till you die
Raise the roof
My all time favorite band=carbon leaf
Well, I got an iTunes gift card (yay!) for getting pretty good grades (5 A's and 2 B's), and so far the only annoying things that have happened is that some of the prices have raised on iTunes and it charged me twice for "the wizard and I" from Wicked. But I was also able to get some songs by Carbon Leaf, which is officially my favorite band ever. Right now I am listening to the new songs that I just got. I am quite glad that the prices haven't risen on Carbon Leaf songs.
I have only been to one rock concert ever. That was Building 429 (Cristian Rock, best band of that genre EVER) a few years ago. A few years ago, Carbon Leaf played in Richmond on Halloween, but I couldn't go. Mind you, I was not pressing that hard, because I wanted to go trick-or-treating. The annoying thing's that there are no venues where they can play that are anywhere near where I live. There's DC, and there's Richmond, but those're the only two big places that anyone would probably want to go to play. So yeah.
My new favorite song by Carbon Leaf is "This is my Song."
This is my day, this is my song
I am alive, what can go wrong?
YAAAY CARBON LEAF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They actually originated in Richmond, and they mentioned Virginia in this one song from their new album. The song is called "Indecision." It makes me very happy.
I have only been to one rock concert ever. That was Building 429 (Cristian Rock, best band of that genre EVER) a few years ago. A few years ago, Carbon Leaf played in Richmond on Halloween, but I couldn't go. Mind you, I was not pressing that hard, because I wanted to go trick-or-treating. The annoying thing's that there are no venues where they can play that are anywhere near where I live. There's DC, and there's Richmond, but those're the only two big places that anyone would probably want to go to play. So yeah.
My new favorite song by Carbon Leaf is "This is my Song."
This is my day, this is my song
I am alive, what can go wrong?
YAAAY CARBON LEAF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They actually originated in Richmond, and they mentioned Virginia in this one song from their new album. The song is called "Indecision." It makes me very happy.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
grr. rrr. rrrr.
Okay, from this point on, today is not my day. For one thing, it's raining. Rain isn't fun. Okay, it is fun some of the time. But not today. For another thing, I'm hungry, and I don't have any single dollars so I can't go and get something from the vending machine. Nor do I have any spare change. Then there's the fact that I'm just tired. Then there's also the fact that I was late to chemistry this morning, which is really not fun. Then there is the fact that my alarm clock is really annoying, even though I've only been using the alarm this week. Then there's the fact that I can't find my ancient civ notebook, which all but means that I am going to fail the quarter if it stays lost. But the thing is, I've looked in all the possible places, and it's not there. Then there is the other fact that I have tae kwon do today, and I really don't want to go. Then there is the other fact that I have started being a neat freak like my mom, which is very scary.
I do not WANT to be like my mother. Being like my mother is very scary. It is one of the last things on my List of Things I Want to Be, right down there with "dead" and "a zombie" and "constantly writing essays." I hate writing essays. Especially essays on topics like crabs or zombies or writing essays.
I have nothing against my mom. It is just I would hate to be like her when I grow up. And people say we're alike. AIEE!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!
Really. My mom can be a control freak. And very annoying. Often at the same time. I have told her several times when she is doing something that's annoying and/ or embarrassing. But later on when it is just us, she says that it's embarrassing when I tell her that she's being annoying. Like I wasn't embarrassed at ALL whenever she told me off in public when I was a kid. Kids, in all reality, TOTALLY don't feel stuff like that. Nope. Who are we kidding?
Not.
Thanks, mom.
I do not WANT to be like my mother. Being like my mother is very scary. It is one of the last things on my List of Things I Want to Be, right down there with "dead" and "a zombie" and "constantly writing essays." I hate writing essays. Especially essays on topics like crabs or zombies or writing essays.
I have nothing against my mom. It is just I would hate to be like her when I grow up. And people say we're alike. AIEE!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!
Really. My mom can be a control freak. And very annoying. Often at the same time. I have told her several times when she is doing something that's annoying and/ or embarrassing. But later on when it is just us, she says that it's embarrassing when I tell her that she's being annoying. Like I wasn't embarrassed at ALL whenever she told me off in public when I was a kid. Kids, in all reality, TOTALLY don't feel stuff like that. Nope. Who are we kidding?
Not.
Thanks, mom.
i fail at nanowrimo
Well, as most of you probably know, November is NaNoWriMo, and I am totally failing at it. I have not written anything novel-worthy in the last two weeks, nor have I had any time to do so.
So I fail at that.
FYI.
New post!
So I fail at that.
FYI.
New post!
time flies
Yes, I know I didn't post yesterday. Lots of hectic things were going on. Anyway, exactly a year ago yesterday I cut my hair for Locks of Love. Exactly a year ago today, I walked into school with hair above my collarbone for the first time since the beginning of fifth grade. I don't know how I remember these things. Okay, I do. I programmed the anniversary of the donation on my phone. It's not really hard to forget anyway, as it's Veteran's Day. Anyway, now my hair is even shorter and more spastic, but I sometimes really miss having the long hair. You can do more with it. I like this hair, but still. It never stays when I try to pull it back and I can't do anything to it except wash it and brush it and wish it would grow out faster. Hopefully I won't have to bob it for the musical, because then it would never grow out in time for swim season, which would mean that it would be the biggest hassle in the world to get it into the swim cap, which means I would never be able to finish warm ups. Not that I ever finish warm ups or anything. But still.
It seems that all the people I know who have had long hair have donated it. Well, not everyone. But a lot of people. But it used to be that practically everyone in my group of friends at school had long hair, and now only one long-haired person is left, and she's going to donate soon. That would make four of us. One girl had hair down to her butt. It was insane. She had it that long for the longest time (hahahahahaha!!) but then she donated before eighth grade. And then I donated last year, and then my other friend donated not long after. All the rest of the group have cut their hair through middle school and high school. And now one is left. And it is very sad.
Okay, that's all I have to say for now.
It seems that all the people I know who have had long hair have donated it. Well, not everyone. But a lot of people. But it used to be that practically everyone in my group of friends at school had long hair, and now only one long-haired person is left, and she's going to donate soon. That would make four of us. One girl had hair down to her butt. It was insane. She had it that long for the longest time (hahahahahaha!!) but then she donated before eighth grade. And then I donated last year, and then my other friend donated not long after. All the rest of the group have cut their hair through middle school and high school. And now one is left. And it is very sad.
Okay, that's all I have to say for now.
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