Not with a Whimper, but with a Bang

     With a new year comes a new outlook. A fresh way of looking at the world. Being in Canada, a fresh coat of snow falls upon the ground within the first week, normally more than once. I write my exams and begin a new semester. There is usually a tendency to plaster on a positive, easy-going, this-year-is-going-to-be-the-best-year-ever feeling. In past years, I have gone along with this feeling. It's easy to get swept up in. Well, not this year. 2012 has begun with a sort of negative air to it, and it has nothing to do with any 'impending apocalypse'.

     My year started out in pain. Over a few days, this pain worsened, until yesterday it found me in the emergency room of the local hospital, where we waited rather patiently for over two and half hours. After waiting this extreme amount of time, I was told that the pain and swelling on the side of my face that I was experiencing was not the ear infection that I had expected it to be, but an infection in my salivary gland. You know, that thing that makes spit.

     Today I woke up looking like half a chipmunk. Eating has become one of the most painful experiences ever. I would rate it an 7.5/10 on my pain scale, with 10 being a spinal tap (nothing really get passed 8 anymore). Sleeping is rather annoying, as there is apparently no sleeping position in which my body is comfortable and my face doesn't want to fall off. I have been basically attached to my hot water bottle these past 2 days, as it is the only thing that brings me comfort. Dear god, how am I ever going to live through school tomorrow.

     I feel almost like this is some punishment for my complete and total disbelief in any sort of 2012 disaster. Life wants me to feel some sort of pain, since I refuse to feel at all panic-y and whatnot over the date.

     I have to bring my plant back to school tomorrow, and I kind of don't want to. It's grown so much more here than it ever did under the light in the classroom. When I brought it home, I seriously thought that I was going to end up killing it, since plants don't normally tend to last in my house. It had barely been green for more than a few days, while everyone elses were gaining height. Now though, I have super tall growths and new shoots. I am very proud of myself.

Above: The earliest picture of my plant babies when I brought them home.
Below: A picture I have just taken, to show juuust how good I am.

     So hopefully this year gets better, because if the highlight of my year is that I was able to successfully keep a plant alive for two weeks, then I don't know if I want to continue. I am feeling a tad bit better though. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Out With The Old

     My last post of 2011. The year has been pretty amazing, with its own balance of rises and falls. Looking back, I wouldn't change a single moment of it. Each day that I have lived have brought me to this moment, and this moment is pretty decent. Sure, I want the clock to tick 12 o'clock, the dawn to bring a new day. In lieu of that moment, I am going to reflect upon some of the things I've done this year.

     Starting with the Big, Fun, Scary List of 2011. I honestly didn't look at this after I had written it until about mid-summer, and then only a couple of times after that, so I am not really sure how well I have done until now:

*survive 11th grade - I am happy to report that I did this, and I did it quite well. The marks that I achieved were mostly to my liking (stupid math and physics) and the times I spent in those classes have become nice memories.
*begin last year - Following the success of the prior, I have started gr. 12. I still don't think I have mentally accepted the fact that it is my final year, though, despite having applied to university and everything. Maybe that's the best thing for now.
*go to my first dance - Still have not done this, but it will happen. Not because I 100% want it, but because I will never be forgived if I don't go to prom at the end of the year. And the only other dance that I could have gone to was the Christmas formal; not my thing.
*get a radical haircut - SUCCESS! I don't think anything was more radical than cutting off my ponytail and adopting the short hair look. I don't think I will ever go back long, since this seems to be working for me.
*actually do NaNoWriMo 2011- I would like to say that I tried, that I started writing but life just got to me. Unfortunately, life got to me before NaNo did, and I made the decision to not procrastinate schoolwork by doing it. The bad thing about NaNo is that it is in November, one of the busiest school months. Plus I had English, which took up a lot of my time.
*read 50 books - Sooo close. I made it to 46 books by the end of today, and I know that if I hadn't had English I would have done it. I didn't read much during the last 3 months because of the stupid class. I mean, I read the required reading for it, but never had time to read my own novels.
*get my driver's license - Success was achieved in this one, as well as going to driver's ed (yet to complete that, bleh actual driving). Ultimatums do apparently work for me, when it gets to a certain point.
*get a job - I didn't get a job, on the premise that I am leaving soon and no one here is really hiring right now. I have been saving my money, though, and not spending anything from my allowance. It adds up pretty quickly.
*do more blogging - Things started good in the beginning of the year, but I think once I started writing on A Week of Awesome I kind of stopped writing here. The BEDD posts have really helped me to get back into blogging, and hopefully in the new year I will be more regular in my posts.
*try vlogging - I discovered that I am way to shy for this. I do not like the sound of my voice when it is recorded. Vlogging is not for me.
*do something completely selfless - There is really no way for me to guage this, but I have done some things this year that helped others. I watched StickAid 2011, staying up about 19 hours out of 24. I also aided my school in raising money to help the community Harvest Center; we ended up raising around $1,500. For a school of around 300 students, it was very heartwarming.
*lose weight - Not as much as I wanted, of course, but I did lose some. *happy dance* Better luck next year, I guess.

     As I said, I am really proud of the things I've done this year. I got back into writing for a bit, and drawing a lot more. I realized that I have a love and a talent for writing, but not a lot of time for it. As for drawing, well, I would say amateur. I discovered a new taste in music that I didn't think I would ever like, but has become a kind of sanctum for me, especially when I'm moody. I made new friends, who I hope to one day meet.

     A good year, not the first and certainly (hopefully) not the last. The future holds a lot, yet to be discovered. And I can't wait to see what it's all about. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Uh-Oh

     So I clearly forgot to post yesterday, but that is because I started watching something and it ended after midnight, and I didn't realize that I had forgetten until my lights were out and I was almost asleep. And this post will be semi-late (ie. after midnight) because it will just have to be. I didn't think it was this late already. I thought I had at least an hour, but apparently that isn't so.

     I've also got to get used to typing on the new laptop, as it is much bigger than my old one and the keys are larger and farther from each other. This one doesn't have the French key setting like my old one, so I've also got to adjust to some key changes. Like the apostrophe, the question mark, and slashes. Those are the worst. I am liking that the speakers actually work, as the old ones were scratchy and useless. It's kinda nice being able to listen to music without headphones.

     These past two days have been really enjoyable. Yesterday we brought my niece out to the lake to try out her snowmachine that she got for Christmas. It was really adorable, and she picked it up really quickly. She can turn like a pro now (or at least as pro as you can get at 3 and a half). This morning we all went down to the arena to skate for a bit. I was a bit horrible, since I haven't skated in at least 2 years, but am glad to say that I didn't fall, not even once. Seventeen years old and that is a celebrated accomplishment. Yupp.

     I watched Neverland last night, which was a two-part special that was on the Space channel a few weeks ago but I missed. It is basically the story of how Peter ended up in Neverland, and the events that led to his becoming Peter Pan and being able to fly and hating Captain Hook. It was really good, much better than I had expected it to be. *Spoilers* It was a really cool concept too, that everyone was brought over from different historical times by a magical orb thingy. I had wondered why there were pirates and Indians, and why Peter and the Lost Boys seemed so different from everyone. I really liked the forest city that Dr. Flood made; I was so angry when it was destroyed. And the tree spirit city. I loved how they called them tree spirits instead of fairies or pixies. Anyway, it was a great show and I do recommend it.

     The photo challenge for yesterday was 'there's something odd about the picture...' which is a really strange yet interesting topic. Can you tell what is odd about this picture? Maybe it's the fact that my new computer is more than twice the size of my old one. Or maybe its the fact that I am just a supernerd and my backgrounds are all fandoms. The Marauders (Harry Potter) on one, and Jingle Bells written in Galifreyan (Doctor Who) on the other. Also, I need a new name for this laptop. My old one is named Sexy, after the TARDIS, because it is kind of like that blue, and the Doctor calls his TARDIS sexy when they are alone, as witnessed in the episode The Doctor's Wife. I don't know what name to give this one. It is white, and has this sort of golf-ball feel to it. It needs to be something nerdy though, in the spirit of nerdiness everywhere. Any ideas?

     Today's challenge is 'your favourite...?' I really could have gont any way with this, but since I want to show of my plant, I will show you my current favourite project. In our school's gardening club we are growing herbs, and I took mine home over the holidays so that my teacher advisor would not kill them. They have grown immensely over the week-ish that I have had them here, and I am so excited because I tend to be very bad with plants. But here they are, green and healthy and continuously growing. There are even a few shoots coming out, which makes me so happy because they weren't there on Wednesday when it left school. It means I'm doing something right.

     A bit late, but always worth it I hope. Don't forget to be awesome!!

BEDD: Merry Christmas!

     This day has been hectic and exciting and fun and all around crazy. I was woken up at 7:30 this morning to go upstairs to open up gifts. That is roughly the time that I am awake on a school morning. I guess that is the consequence of having a 3 and a half year old in the house. I think I actually miss the days when my sister woke me up at 9, and I thought that was too early to be awake for Christmas.

     The gift opening was fun, much more entertaining with my niece here. She has such a hilarious way of opening things, it's almost like she knows that Christmas wasn't made for the impation (ie. my sister). She would tear little strips of wrapping paper off of a gift, and then hold it up for everyone to see. And she did that for every single gift she had. And it was a pretty full Santa bag/stocking.

     My parents really surprised me though. I knew I was getting a new laptop for Christmas, to prepare me for univeristy and whatnot, so that they don't have to buy me everything come June when the time comes for me to get ready to leave. They were planning on buying a printer to go with my laptop for graduation, so that I wouldn't have to worry about running around to print assignments. I thought we were all done with gifts when my mom puts this huge, heavy box on my lap with this big smile on her face. I open it up (with some 'help' from my niece) and lo and behold, it's a printer. Not in a million years would I have guessed that. My honest guess what that it was a gag, since I had already gotten a laptop and everything.

     This next paragraph contains spoilers. I did get to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe. I must say that it was not what I expected from the title. I refused to watch the trailer for it so as to be perfectly surprised for the episode. I really loved this episode, just because I loved the original foray into Narnia that occured in tLtWatW. I also loved the different spin on it, all Christmas-y and Whovian. Of course, the Doctor would trick out a house to make his guests feel welcome. Well, I know I'd stay there anyday. Despite the fact that the forest trees were kind of evil-ish, taking over Ceril's body, I liked them. It was neat seeing the spirits of trees sorta literally coming to life. The Queen looked more like a Princess though, in my opinion. I also have to admit that I cried in the end, when they were all returned, the forest souls were safe, and the husband was alive again. I think I'm just a sucker for a good Doctor Who ending, though.

     I love that today's challenge is colour. The true embodiment of colour today, Christmas Day, has to be the Christmas tree. So of course, I went and photographed the lights in the tree. It was slightly out of focus, but I think that made the picture look even better.

   

     I hope that everyone has had a very merry Christmas Day, and that it was safe and happy and enjoyable. All in all, I think mine has been the best so far, just because of the people who were here to celebrate with me and the new memories and traditions I have begun. Hopefully I will continue bloggig for years to come, and will be able to continue this as a tradition as well. Don't forget to be awesome!!

BEDD: So Nice To Relax

     I don't think sleeping in has ever felt so good. Weekends are alright, but they always feel rushed, like if I sleep too much on a Saturday I won't feel satisfied on Sunday, which will mean a late night and a horrible Monday. Or I'll have too much work to do and not enough time to relax and get it done. Which is why this feels so amazing. I got to have my sleep in ritual of waking up and falling back to sleep repeatedly in order to have different dreams.

     I also got some extremely last minute gift wrapping done today, which was difficult because some of them were really oddly shaped. All I say is don't criticize the wrap job or I will return the gifts. It was also difficult to get them all to fit underneath the tree. Since we have some family staying over for Christmas, there are a lot more gifts under there than there usually are. It's a madhouse, I'm telling you. Tomorrow will be crazier, because there will be cousins and such over for dinner.

     The photo challenges for today and yesterday both took on the same subject, but with their own thematic twists. Yesterday's word was motion, which took a lot of thought. I am not very good at photography, as evidenced by my failed attempts to capture the picture, and so this one is courtesy of my sister, who has a much better camera than I do and much more amazing skills. It is my ring, spinning in circles. Each time I tried, my camera would capture a single shot of it, with no motion whatsoever, or I would fail the entire process of taking it. I like that it sort of makes my ring look gold, which is completely false.

     Today's challenge was shadow, and I really enjoyed this one. It allowed me to take a picture that I have never really thought of taking before, but is really overdone. I don't care, because I love how it came out. It's also kind of an oxymoron, because I love my ring, the shadow, and the photograph, but I am really not enjoying the book. 10 points if you can guess which one it is.

     Also, my day in a nutshell right here. Talking with my sister, just randomly chatting along, and llamas enter the conversation. So I say 'obamallama', just because it rhymes and sounds hilarious. It makes her laugh, and I jokingly tell her to Google it, see if I have any competition with my word. Sure enough, there's fracking stuffed obamallamas. Our new joke: they will kill you in your sleep. Don't forget to be awesome.

BEDD: Freedom Tastes an Awful Lot Like Gingerbread

     Freedom has never felt so good. I am so exhausted, yet I have literally done nothing all day. Got to sleep in an extra fifteen minutes, which might not sound like much but it felt absolutely amazing. Ate pancakes and sausages when I got to school, and then spent period one lazing on the couches in the library. Period two included a movie, and more lazing around, this time on the top of the a science lab desk.Lunch went by rather quickly, with nothing really interesting happening. Period three was a nice surprise, just a quick note that I didn't write very well. No essay, which I guess I could have foreseen, since it's so near to Christmas, and my teacher isn't that horrible. Walked around the school most of period four, then played games on the smart board in the math class since their lesson was done. Then it was off the assembly, which was actually not half bad considering there was basically zero student participation. We had some classes from the elementary school present some stuff, which was both adorable and annoying, since I hate Christmas music. Then there were videos from the communications class that were (all but one) un-Christmas-y, a strange skit from some of the grade 9s, and a hilarious song number from a few of the staff. All in all it was an alright day. I spent the entire time at school wrapped up in my blanket, so it made the day even more cozy and comforting. And now though, I am so extremely tired. I even slept a bit on the couch this evening, and that didn't seem to help. Maybe it's just all the mayhem of the week collapsing in on me now that it's all over. Either way, I am going to go to bed now, and leave the photo for tomorrow, since I don't feel like getting up to take it. Good night! And don't forget to be awesome! (yay for one long paragraph)

BEDD: Strange

     Today has been a blech sort of day. School was a mish-mash of good and horrible, which didn't help the day at all. The last week always seems to drag on, and this year it seems like that feeling is mutliplied by a million. I really, really, really just want the holidays to be here already.

     The word for today's challenge is stranger, and I went kind of, well, strange with it. I didn't really feel like taking pictures, so I just clicked around my room. I came away with two shots that I really liked. The first is the stuffed monkey that is magneted to my bedside lamp. It's kind of a stranger to anyone who sees it, but to me it just wouldn't be right if he wans't there. I think what makes this one 'stranger' is the angle that I randomly managed to get. I don't know if you would instantly guess lamp if you didn't know. The second is a snippet of my wall of stuff. It's just a strange assortment of things that I like, random pictures from the Internet. I have a few drawings up there, and even an old Itunes card stuck in there. Both represent the strange-ness of my room in the perspective of a stranger. To me, of course, they are just normal, everyday things. So yeah. Don't forget to be awesome, you strangers.

    

BEDD: The Nutcracker

    Today has been a really long day. I travelled into the city with K and her family, and we went to see the Nutcracker ballet. It was super amazingly awesome. I have never seen anything like it before. The backdrops were beautiful, with screens that backlit to change the scenes. I thought that was really cool.

     The dances were amazing as well. I still don't know which one was my favourite. The Dew Drop Fairy's was really nice, with the waltzing flowers. Very intricate. I also liked the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance, it was nice. I especially liked the music for that one. And now I have it stuck in my head. The Prince's first dance with Clara, right after he is transformed from being the Nutcracker, was also a really good one. Very romantic. I think that one might just come out as the top of my three favourites.

     I forgot my camera at home, so I will post the photo challenge tomorrow as a double. This day has been long but fun, and now I am tired. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Messy

     I am usually an extremely clean person. Everything in my room has a place, and I like everything to be in that place. I'm really OCD about it. Usually, my room is perfectly neat and tidy, nothing on the floor except my backpack (because my cat likes to sleep on it), and all of my shelves generally tidy. On occasion, I will become really lazy, or get super busy, and my room will end up looking like a huge mess (at least to my standards). That is what it is like now.

     Since I am going to be going away the rest of the weekend, I need to clean my room. Also, I believe my mother wants to wash my floors or something annoying like that, so I can't really leave anything lying around. She tends to not be very good at putting my things back in the right places. Or at least, where I believe they should be. So on top of finishing homework, which I rocrastinated all evening, I must pack and clean up. At least this is done.

     I liked the photo challenge for today, mainly because it involved a lot less creativity that usual. 'A Picture of a Picture'. How much easier can it be. So I photographed one of my favourite pictures that is stuck to my wall. It is the cover of a card that I received years ago, I don't even know who from or why anymore (would help if I opened it I'm sure). Anyway, I love it for its simplicity. I mean, when I was a kid, I was far too scared of falling to ever do that. I guess all you need to do is believe. And now I look at it every single day, and try to remember that as I go through the day, my life, whatever. Darn childhood, gotta go messing things up all the time.

     Anywho, I've still got some work to do before I tackle the rest of that list, so short post will be short again. I do have to say though, posting more frequently (though not ever day) has felt good. To see so many more posts is a great feeling of accomplishment. There are now as many posts in December as there were in 2010. It gives me a bit more hope for the new year. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: GAAH Christmas

     Even though it only comes once a year, I have some very mixed feelings about Christmas. I mean, I like it and all, with family celebrating and being together, having a good time. Seeing people's excited faces when that gift that I thought about forever has made their day the best. But, I cannot stand Christmas music or Christmas shopping.

     There is just something about hearing the same music over and over and over every single year that bothers me. And the tunes are so annoying, and it's made even worse when singers and such try to remix them. Just leave it be. It's terrible enough as it is. I think my animosity towards Christmas music stems from childhood Christmas concerts, and being forced onto a stage each year to sing some wretched song with the rest of my classmates. Terrible idea. Twenty or so tonedeaf children singing something completely unoriginal.

     As for Christmas shopping, I just hate shopping in general. Add hundreds more intense, stupid, crazy shoppers into the stores, and you have put me into a nightmare. I am the kind of person who just wants to go in, get what I need (which I usually have already decided on), and get out. With Christmas shopping, you have to work around the idiots who cannot do this, who just walk around, browsing like there's no tomorrow. Honestly, sometimes I just wanted to run them over with aa shopping cart.

     Thankfully, today's photo challenge was freestyle, which ran on my attitude for the day. So I just went to the nerdy side, and took a photo of my 'Stone Angels.' Sometimes scary monsters can be adorable. There really isn't much to explain, other than these little guys sit on my bookshelf. I've had them for as long as I can remember. Freestyle, what else is there. Sleep. Don't forget to be awesome.

BEDD: Sometimes I'm a Hypocrite

     I hate English. I also love English. I can explain this though. I like English in the sense of creative writing and reading and analysing (which most people hate). I love to write, and someday do wish to write an actual novel, or something resembling an actual novel. I love to read, and analysing novels can be interesting sometimes. I mean, it's interesting to see other people's opinions and have more insight on things that seemed to be so simple.

     What I don't like is writing essays. I don't like citing sources, and calling authors by their last names over and over again. I mean, some essays are fine to write, like the ones in which stories are told, but those that just teach you something lame are boring. And who cares where I got my information from, as long as it's there. Also, why can't Wikipedia be a credible source? Who cares if anyone can write an article; do you know how difficult it is these days to actually change something in those things? (Probably not difficult, but come on, they have all the information in one place.) As for author names, I am going to build a freaking time machine and meet these people so that I can technically call them by their first names in essays. (I wish)

     The love/hate thing is not the only reason I am being hypocritical in this post. I really do love English, and these things only annoy me when I have procrastinated a lot and have to rush to finish an essay. I am going to have to get used to these things if I want to get an English degree in university. *sigh*  I just like to rant sometimes. Especially when I'm tired and just want to read instead of doing homework.

     Speaking of reading, I started a book last night, and due all of the procrastinating I did today, I am almost finished it. I think the 50 Book Challenge will not be too bad now, if I can continue this way and not have too much work to do for the rest of the month. (Haha, funny. The next two weeks are going to be horrible for homework.

     Today's challenge word is love, a word which I really hate. So for the photo, I kind of translated it to heart, and something that I liked. This summer my family and I ate quite a few Kinder Egg chocolates, and I collected the plastic eggs. At first I had them in a chain, as my goal was just to see how long an egg chain I could make. Then one day my sister took that chain and kind of bent and twisted the eggs into the shape of a heart, and since then I have not touched it, despite having gotten a few more to add to it. And so that is the picture for today, a love/heart of Kinder chocolate.

     Anywho, I am exhausted, and just want to read before going to sleep. Don't forget to be awesome!

BEDD: Procrastinate-y Horribleness

     Bad me has been procrastinating all evening, and is now stuck staying up to write my post. Bad me. It will be quick though, since I also posted on A Week of Awesome today. I will make tomorrow's post super awesome to make up for it though. I already have it planned (at least the idea), so that's a start. And tomorrow is Friday anyway, thankfully.

     Today was the first day of this week's doule feature of Grimm. It is the new show I have begun watching this year, and I absolutely love it. I describe it as a supernatural-police-drama version of Torchwood. Which is probably whhy I fell in love with it. It's got little romance, which tends to bore me after a while, and a lot of mystery drama, which I like to get into. I like to try to figure things out before they are revealed, to see how good my skills are (not very). But it's all in good fun. Anyway, it's a double feature because usually it only plays in Fridays, but it hasn't aired in two weeks, so this week they are airing two new episodes, one today and one tomorrow, which has me super excited.

     Today's photo challenge will be described and posted with tomorrows, since my camera decided to fail on me. I really don't know what is happening to me today with technology. My laptop froze like a bazillion times before I could log into Blogger, my camera is acting up, and the plug-in that I always use for my laptop is going haywire. So yeah, tomorrow will be super-duper awesome, I promise.

     Stay tuned, and don't forget to be awesome. Even though I seem to have forgotten today.

BEDD: Polar Bear

     Today was both a dull and exciting day. It was kind of a rollar coaster of feelings, you could say. I didn't really do any work in my classes, which was good, but also made for a boring day. On the bright side, I slept a lot better last night, so I felt much better throughout the day. Turns out when you aren't waking up 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night, you aren't nearly falling asleep in the middle of the day either.

     Instead of doing more review for a test in Biology class, we watched a Discovery Planet Earth video on ecology. It was really cool, and showed a lot of interesting animals and different natural habitats. There were the mating dances of a few birds of paradise shown, and they were really cute. There are a large number of different species of them, all with their own different ritual, and it was cute to see what some of them did. I mean, with humans we just get to know each other, decide if we can stand to live with each other (most times), and get married and stuff. In the animal kingdom, though, things are so much different. I think it would be cool if we had different selection rituals like birds do. At least, I think it would be cute if a guy danced or something to try to get my attention. I think it would be a sweet gesture. This is the clip from the video, and this is another, longer one, that I found on YouTube with more species of the bird.

     Another animal that was shown was a polar bear. It showed a mother leading its two cubs around, climbing and slipping over the ice and snow drifts. It was adorable. I've decided I want to be a polar bear in my next life. You know, if we get next lives after we die. I think it would be cool to be one of the largest predators in the community. Not much would bother me, I would be adorable, and who doesn't love polar bears? They're practically the kings of the bear world. They also have to be strong enough to survive in the toughest climates the world has to offer. So yeah, if the order of the world starts taking orders, I'd like polar bear in next life, please.

     I had fun with the photo challenge today. Portrait shot of a family/friend/pet, of which I chose pet because I love my baby. So I annoyed my cat, taking pictures of her, and came away with some nice ones. Like me, she doesn't seem to like having her picture taken, always turning her head away when it seems like I've got a really good one.

     Since last night's sleep went well, I am hoping that I will sleep well again tonight. Wish me luck. Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the polar bears bite! (Bet you thought I was going to say don't forget to be awesome, right.)

BEDD: Lessons Learned

     Today was an interesting day. I didn't really get any work done, because I felt like being procrastinaty. But I did end up doing some  progressive things. I went driving with my dad and sister, which I haven't done since my first driving lesson, which was way back in August. I also learned something new due to todays photo challenge.

     The driving was actually alright, not as bad as I continuously believe it to be. Unfortunetly this now means that I'm going to have to drive more often, which is both good and bad. I do need to drive more, and the confidence boost helped, but I do not really need or want any more responsibility. So a win-lose situation.

     The photo challenge for today is alphabetography, which I did not know of before today. Basically it is where you take a picture, and the subject of the picture depicts a letter of the alphabet. It's a really cool concept, and also a difficult one for the first time. I ended up with the letter O in my shot, as it is probably the easiest, and after looking around my house a bit it was the best thing I could find.

     I also spent some time hanging out with my sister. She was surprisingly good with driving, and wasn't annoying with me and my anxiety towards it. We hung out, played some Zelda, and chatted. I also drew her a picture on her white board, which turned out really good despite being drawn with stupid dry-erase markers. Being left-handed also didn't help with this, since everytime I went to make another line I smudged the one I had previously drawn. But it came out quite well. Darn Pikachu and its adorableness.

     Alas, tomorrow is Monday, which means school again. I really cannot wait for the winter break to just begin. It seems like Zeno's paradox all over again. The closer we get, the farther away it feels. Anywho, time for bed. Hopefully this week doesn't get too busy and I don't miss any posts. I've been doing well so far. Don't forget to be awesome!

Three Things and a Comic

     Well, I have not written in a while, and I do not really want to do homework, so I have decided to post. I really don't have much to talk about, nor the mind to talk about anything that is going on in my life right now, so I have decided to this. Woo for procrastination and this blog. So read or don't, I really couldn't care less. This is for me.

A. Three names I go by...
Deidra
Dee
Dandelions-Fly

B. Three 'jobs' I have had in my life...
babysitter
shelf-stocker
cabin-cleaner / bed-maker

C. Three places I have lived...
Klots Lake
Pamela Lake (this will always be home)
In Town

D. Three TV shows that I watch...
Doctor Who
Torchwood
The Bang Theory

E. Three places I have been...
Ottawa
Saskatchewan
here : \

F. Three favorite foods...
cafeteria meatballs and rice
perogies with bacon and onions
K's cakepops

G. Three people who might respond...
K, because she always reads
any of the other Ks, because I hope they read
anyone else who wants to respond, or post to their own blog

H. Three things I am looking forward to...
This weekend, this lovely three day weekend
Second semester; things will be interesting
Graduation, only nine more months!  o.O

     Oh, and don't forget to be awesome!

Bonne Fête, Dandelions Fly!



     Happy one year anniversary to Dandelions Fly! Celebratory Internet cupcakes for all! And another special treat: If I Were...      Something that I found on this blog one day when I was bored. Don't forget to be awesome and hope you enjoy!

If I were a poptart... I'd be warm and toasted, and most definetely blueberry.

If I were a song... I'd be "Something Good Can Work" by Two Door Cinema Club.

If I were a movie... I'd be one with a confusing plot but the most loveable characters.  <3

If I were a tree... I'd be leafy and green and always blowing wildly in the wind.

If I were a salad... I'd be crazy and mixed up and full of odd ends.

If I were a chocolate bar... I'd be creamy and melted.

If I were a color... I'd be indigo blue.

If I were a season... I'd be winter, for its cold, bitter times, but also for its quiet misunderstood beauty.

If I were a beverage... I'd be cold and relaxing.

If I were a journalist... I would be freaking out about how my writing sounded and what people thought about it.

If I were a hockey team... I'd be falling on my butt everytime I tried to stop.

If I were shampoo... I'd smell wonderfull and make your hair soft and shiny.

If I were lotion... I'd also smell amazing and make your hands soft.

If I were a font... I'd be Vivaldi or some swirly type script like that.

If I were a cartoon character... I'd Perry the Platipus. *Agent P!* 

If I were a sweater... I'd be that cosy sweater that makes you feel amazing even on your worst day.

If I were a food... I'd be meatballs and rice from the school cafeteria.

If I were a berry... I'd be raspberry.

If I were a perfume... I'd be something nearly undectable, that you only get a scent of once in a while and it drives you crazy.

If I were a car... I be a flying car of future, today!

If I were a children’s book... I'd be Green Eggs and Ham.

If I were a dessert... I'd be the world's best chocolate chip cookie.

If I were a sport... I'd be falling on my face, because I do not play sports without doing so.

If I were an egg... I'd be scrambled, because that is the only way I can make them.

If I were a place... I'd Pamela Lake, Ontario. The one place I truly call home.

If I were a sandwich... I'd be peanut butter and raspberry jam, cut in half.

If I were ice cream... I'd be strawberry banana ice cream with strawberry syrop.

If I were a dress... I would not be myself. And everyone knows it. Holy boy, what am I going to do for prom?  :S

If I were a Pez flavour... there are different flavours of Pez?

If I were a Pez dispenser... I'd be a Dalek Pez dispenser, and I don't even care if they don't make those.

If I were natural disaster... I'd be a hurricane, very loud and windy and rainy.

If I were an accent... I'd be British.

If I were a potato chip... Eww.

If I were a Starbucks drink... I'd be hot chocolate, all warm and chocolate-y goodness.

If I were a book... I'd be dystopian fiction.

If I were a building... I'd be a treehouse of awesome.

If I were a lake... I'd be clean and cool, with no mushy stuff at my bottom or weeds at my edges.

If I were a store... I'd be Chapters.

If I were footwear... I'd rather not be, and go barefoot.

If I were a flower... I'd be something blue and pretty.

If I were a holiday... I'd be summer break.

If I were a painting... I'd be a Van Gogh. The man was a genius.

If I were a TV show... I'd be Doctor Who, of course. Who wouldn't want to travel time and space with a sexy man like The Doctor?

Allow Me To Sum It Up For You

     Before the summer ends, I thought it would be a good idea to post this. I recently found this on a blog, and thought it was a brilliant idea. It was actually harder than I thought  it would be. I mean, there are plenty of things that make me happy, but when I really think about them, these are the things that really make me feel good and happy through and through. As summer ends, and the school year draws nearer, it's nice to think of things that make me happy.


10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. A book so good I never want it to end
2. Music that sparks memories
3. Friends that know me so well that they know what I mean when I fail at speech
4. Falling asleep when my head hits the pillow
5. Getting/Making the perfect gift for someone
6. Getting something right on the first try
7. Warm sand beneath my feet
8. The first snowfall of the year; also, the last
9. A blank page
10. The inevitability that tomorrow brings a new day

     Hopefully I will find time to post during the year, and stop procrastinating it (and the homework). Until next time, don't forget to be awesome!

Strange Dreams

     I've never really been one to share dreams, but that is mostly because I never remember them when I wake up, or they were never really bothersome or interesting enough to really talk about. But last night I had a series of very vivid dreams that have been bothering my mind all morning, and I just can't seem to shake them. I would dream and wake up, then fall back to sleep and begin the process all over again. So I figure maybe talking a bit about them, and dreams in general, might help me get rid of them.
     The first dream I had that I can remember was the strangest, and one I can't remember having before. I am on a train or a bus or something of the sort, and I am talking across a table to a guy about mundane things, and we seem to be getting along quite well. He is very friendly and kind, but all of a sudden the dream changes and he is sitting beside me on the bench, and then he kisses me. After that we continue talking, basically like nothing happened, and then I get off the train or bus or whatever and I am at my old house, and I wake up.
     This dream was strange to me because I never dream about people in specific, even people I don't know. It's usually places that are vivid. Also, the kiss was strange, because when I woke that was the part that I remembered most, but it hadn't seemed to be a big thing within the dream. Anyway, this is the dream that is mainly bothering my mind, but there were others.
     In the second dream that I can remember I was at a strange brick building that I for some reason believe was supposed to be my school, but definitely didn't look like it. People were walking around it holding banners and wearing t-shirts that showed the Canadian flag and other awareness things on them. I wanted to join but when I got to the people they were gone back inside the building. So I started walking around, shouting things that I couldn't hear (in that cliché dream sense), and all of a sudden there were dozens of soldiers marching alongside me, shouting with me. Then we arrived at some sort of ceremony, where I proceeded to jump up onto the center stage and sit on one of the chair up there, even though I was told I wasn't supposed to. I had some sort of box in my hand, and I showed it to the lady in charge, and she changed her mind and said I could stay up and I had a very important part. The ceremony began, but then a strange looking little girl ran up onto the stage, followed by another little boy, and they looked like part skeletons. I don't remember much, except that we couldn't touch them, because if we did, we would die. The girl demonstrated this, reaching out to touch the boy, who screamed and turned into a pile of ashes. I woke up shortly after that moment.
     This dream was strange because I felt like there were remnants of my real life scattered inside the dream, but they were just sort of disguised, and it was like my mind was foggy when I tried to remember those things. I feel kind of like I have seem the girl and boy creature thing somewhere before, or some type of them, and my mind is sort of scrabbling at dust trying to figure it out. It's a weird feeling.
     Anyway, I have had the last dream before, with just a few alterations since I have changed since that time. I am part of some sort of gang or group, and we are allowed out to play or whatever, and we find some sort of strange jungle gym type thing in a building, full of bars and platforms that we jump from and whatnot. Well, we get hold of paint from somewhere, and we use our hands to begin defacing the entire thing, kind of like a big art project, but in an illegal sort of way. There is a guy there as well that is kind of my partner or something, and I think I like him or something, because at the end of the dream, he hugs me before we are called out to do something else and I wake up.
     I find this dream to be more fun than strange, because there is a lot of movement and friendship, even though I have no clue who any of the people in it are. Plus, using the dream paint on the play equipment is kind of fun, because I am kind of clumsy in real life, and I can do amazing things in the dream, even with my hands slick with paint and the others jumping and climbing around me.
     I usually don't think that my dreams have many connections to my real life, mostly because I never remember them and they are just images, connected in the most random ways. But after last night, I am retracting that opinion. Some dreams may just be random, but others may have reason and rhyme within real life and the mind. I hope that I do not have dreams like these for a long time, because they were really weird and strange and scary.
     I am going to try to write more often. I know, every time I say that, I end up not writing for long periods of time. But writing this post and the previous post have really felt good, and I miss writing. So I will try. Maybe I will come up a schedule. I was thinking I would try Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but not really set it in stone, just in case I wasn't in a writing mood, or something else comes up. We will see.
     But for now dream normally and don't forget to be awesome!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

     I finally did it. I cut my hair. It only took about a year of talking about it, but I really, actually, truly did it. Unfortunately my ponytail wasn't long enough to be able to donate it, but I didn't want to wait any longer. It was about 6 inches long, and needed to be 8. There was no way my resolve was going to last another 2 inches.
     My hair is only about 2 inches long now. It doesn't really feel all that different, since I always wore it up and in an elastic all day long. What I like is that I can run my fingers through it and play with it and not have to worry about it getting messed up or frizzed out. There is no more need to brush fly away strands behind my ears, or tighten the hair in the elastic, or have it get pulled when I move my head around. It's kind of liberating, actually.

     To those who will remember my hair, don't be too alarmed, you will get used to it. I love it already, so you will love it too. It's another thing off my BFS List. So go forth and check something off of yours, and DFTBA.

17

     So today is my birthday. I am seventeen. This means that seventeen years ago, I got my first glimpse of the world. And what did I do? I cried. But we all do. I believe that as newborn infants, we can sense the inevitability of life. We can sense hard work and fun times, memories and histories, love and sorrow. Seventeen years of living has taught me a lot of things, has giving me time to make a alot of memories, and has giving me a lot to think about. So here we go. A special birthday post, filled with the thoughts that pop into my head as the letters pop up onscreen.

1. It will.

2. No matter how much I try to deny it to myself, my feet are freezing! No amount of blankets are helping right now either. Neither are socks, slippers, or feet-resistant flames.

3. The procrastinating needs to stop. I can procrastinate myself into the corner, very easily I might add, and it is doing nothing to help anything. It is actually making things worse. All things.

4. I read at a faster rate than I can buy books. This may not sound bad to some people, but to me it can feel like he end of the world sometimes.

5. What is at the end of the world? I know most people want to know how it ends, or when it ends, but I'd like to know what's there. Are we there? Is proof of ou existence there? And if we are there, are we the same, or have we changed? There is too much uncertainty in that kind of future to worry about, I know, but I still wonder. 

6. Does anyone really know what all the keys on the keyboard do? I mean really, mine has all of these weird symbols on it. And what if you press multiple keys at one time? Like <Ctrl><Alt><Del>. If I press a certain sequence, will my computer become a robot or something? I mean really, they could be death machines and we would never know.

7. I poured myself a drink to come down here are write this post, but I haven't taken a single sip. Now the glass looks all neglected, and I feel obligated to drink it, but I'm just not thirsty anymore.

8. Who goes out one day and says "I'm going to create a math theory"? Has anyone but me noticed how many equations and problems there are in the math world? Who comes up with this stuff? Sure, one day I'm just going to stay home and create a problem that no one else can solve, then make up a way to get an answer, and consider it a theory. Who cares how long it will take Train A and Train B to get to the same spot on the track? Just stop them before you kill a bunch of inicent people. Gosh. (That was a rant against the horrible math test I had to write today. Grr!)

9. Then again, I also feel this way about weekends.

10. I really hate it when people make a list, pretend to forget a number, and make the next thought something like "I bet you didn't realize there was no number whatever." It's not that hard to count, or go back and change the numbering. Also, not a lot of people look at the numbering. They look at the words after the numbers. That's where all the information is written.

11. This is the first time I've done a list like this. I think I may do more in the future. Except I will plan better in the future, since I am running out of time and things to say.

12. Everytime I'm bored or don't know what to do when I'm online, I look up to the top bar of the screen where I have some of my favourite sites listed for easy access, and I wonder if I will find something to do or say. I never do, in case you were wondering. Mostly I just think that a lot of them aren't favourites anymore, and I haven't visited some in the longest time.

13. Book boys = <3  

14. This thought will self destruct in three ... two ... one ... *poof*.

15. Not enough thoughts, not enough time. Ahh!

16. I was sixteen yesterday.

17. I will be seventeen for 364 days. That's a lot of days.