Green Thumb

     So it's been a while. I haven't had much to say until now, especially since January was mostly finishing classes and writing exams. Those went alright, considering I only had two of them and one was biology. (the other was English, which was terrible in the sense that exams are terrible, but I think I did okay.) In old news, my beginning-of-the-year horribleness, a.k.a chipmunk face, went away with the kind help of the medication after about two or three days, which was great. I still think it's some kind of jinx on 2012 for me.
     The main reason that I wanted to post was to brag about my awesome plant-growing skills. I took mine, K's, and another member's plants home for the exam period and the days off after, a total of 11 days. They were the only ones that were alive and showed promise, and I did not want them to die. So I took them and initiated what I have called Operation Plant Overhaul, to bring theirs back from near-death, and help mine grow more. The results are stunning.

     This is the plants the first day I took them home. I cleaned out all of the dead things, picked out the moldy earth, and started hoping.

Here is my plant, today, all leafy green and looking like a jungle. I was able to save the leaves, since they had been damaged a bit when my teacher left the lights on over them for an entire weekend.

K's plant, which had so much dead stuff in it when I first brought it home that I didn't think I would be able to save much. But I was successful in saving two of them, which have at least doubled in height. The one on the right was original bent completely over, and neither of them had much in terms of leaves.

The last plant is probably the one I spent most of my time worrying about. The stems were really tiny and flimsy, so I ended up burying them a bit to a point where they could stand-ish on their own. The leaves on this plant have really flourished, and even the little alien part (far right side) has grown.

     Now I have to take them back to school though, which will probably result in all of my hard work being ruined, since annoying kids like to poke them when they are in class. I wish I could keep them with me, but I can't.

     Anyway, I hope (as usual) to write more often, especially since a new semester is beginning and there shouldn't be much work for a while (I hope). Don't forget to be awesome!

This is a comparison of my plant from Christmas time. It's weird to think that it used to be that tiny. I am an amazing plant grower person, if I do say so myself.

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: 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: The Quest Begins

     It may be a little late in the evening, but I have posted! I have just been working on today's photo challenge, and what I thought was going to be an easy one turned out to be a tad bit more difficult than expected. Day 1 called was 'anything goes,' so I thought I would talk a bit about the 50 Book Challenge, since I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

     The 50 Book Challenge was part of my Big, Fun, Scary List for the year. The point was to read at least 50 books by end of the year (duh), to see just how much people really read during the course of a year. For the longest time, my Challenge meter has been logged to 26 books, basically since I stopped the major blogging this year. But I never stopped reading (gosh, that would be worse than my heart stopping beating). So finally, I dragged up my memory lists, my Chapters list, and perused my bookshelf, and discovered that I was up to 41 books. Dissatisfied. So I read a book (a short one) that night, and then finished Othello today, which brought me up to 43. I messed up on my list though, so the counter says 44. It just means that I won't have to make a new one once I finish the next book.

     Anywho, back to today. I figured since I was so excited about being so close to my goal, I would make the first BEDD photo a picture of all of the books I have currently read. Of course, I don't have all of them (I borrowed a couple and 2 are novels from school) so I just put filler books into the picture with the spines turned away. But every other book is my own personal novel that I own and have read.

     Like I mentioned before, I didn't think that getting this picture would be difficult. At first I underestimated the pure size of 43 books. I had to find them all on my bookshelf and take them out, and then move them off of my desk and onto the floor to take the picture, since there is no room on my desk to take a decent picture. Then, once I had the picture, I had to move all of them back to the desk and put them back onto the bookshelf into their correct places. I am kinf of OCD when it comes to my bookshelf. Since there is no more room (I have a lot of books) everything needs to be placed correctly to fit. It's like Tetris, but for books.

     I am going to go to bed now (after reading a bit), since moving everything and my day in general has made me really tired. Tune in tomorrow for another post/picture. As always, don't forget to be awesome!

Pre-BEDD

     On the last days of November, a desperate blogger makes a mad dash at posts to feel better about the procrastinatio she has been doing for months now. Also, I really don't feel like working on my English essay. Of course, she always returns when there is other work to be done. Yeah well, I've gotten a lot of other work done today. Sort of.

     Anyway, I am planning my own sort of Blog Every Day in December, or BEDD. Haha. I am going to post a holiday themed picture, in a 30 Day photography challange. Mostly this is to make me more inclined to blog, and then hopefully by the end of the year I will have something to look back on. Also, I have a special Christmas Day post planned (well, not yet, but I will), and a New Year's post (which I do have planned). Now, with all of that, I aim for 30 posts in December, along with my posts on the Week of Awesome blog.

Without further ado, I present upon you my 'Christmas List 2011' :

1. Peace on Earth, and all the wondrous lands.

2. A wardrobe passage to Narnia.

3. Acceptance to Hogwarts. For reals.

4. A Jetpack.

5. Jetpack fuel.

6. A toaster that says "yum, yum, yum," when you stick toast in it.

7. A time machine.

8. Recipe to make homemade wizard lighting.

9. A rocketship to Mars.
10. To Catch 'em All.
11. Meow.
12. Peace on Secret Earth (The one we’re not supposed to talk about - the little one hidden behind the moon.)
13. Epic music that plays in the background of my life.
14. Jetpack betteries.
15. A genie.
16. A black unicorn. No glitter!
17.   5 Golden Rings!

18. No more homework. Ever.

19. More wishes.

20. An owl to deliver my mail. Or a cat that transforms into friends.

21. A flashdark. It’s like a flashlight but the opposite.
22. Sugarplums to dance over my head, and incite magical dreams of Christmas miracles.

23. A sideways trampoline.

24. A jellyfish. I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy.

25. ALL THE PRESENTS!

   So yeah. If anyone can make any of that possible, you will be my overlord. Oh mighty Christmas gods, pleasepleaseplease! I guess I should do my homework now, since it's getting late and I want to go to sleep early tonight. December first! I will post. And then December second, and third, and so on.

Don't forget to be awesome, and have a good end-of-November.

My Thoughts on a New Year

     C&H could not have said it any better*. The new year does not mean a clean slate. It does not mean a fresh beginning. It means it's the day after December 31rst, and just because that day is January 1rst only means that the annual calender cycle has restarted. People don't get excited and celebrate when the moon turns from a waning crescent to a new moon, meaning that the lunar cycle is restarting. We don't resolve ourselves to change things once a weekly cycle has past.

     To me, a new year means changing the date on homework assignments and getting a new calender. It means I am another day closer to death, and though that may sound pessimistic, it isn't. It's the cold hard truth. It means another round of winter, spring, summer, fall, winter. Another birthday, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. It means new trends and new music, new ideas and finishing old ones. Another 365 days, none of which I am ever promised. I could die tomorrow, and a 'happy new year' would mean nothing. So can we just resolve to surviving this year? I could live with that (no pun intended).

   

  *Thank you C&H for finally giving me something to tell myself for the year.

Big, Fun, Scary List 2011

     In the aftermath of NaNoWriMo 2011, I received an email from the NaNo staff. This email included a thank-you for participating (even though I basically write nothing), a link to the Participant survey, and links to other things to do after NaNoWriMo. One such suggestion that I found interesting was the Big, Fun, Scary List 2011.
     The BFS List 2011 is basically a list of things you wish to accomplish in the coming year. I don't usually have things that I want to accomplish, but this year I want to change that. I have thought a lot of what I really want to accomplish this year, and this is what I have come up with, with reasoning:


*survive grade 11, and move on to 12
-this year has been rough and tiring, and it's only halfway though
*attend my first high school dance
-the last school dance I went to I was probably in third grade. All of my friends have been getting mad at me for not going to dances, but they are just not my thing.
*get a radical haircut
-I don't mean cut an inch or two, I mean a complete change.
*actually do NaNoWriMo 2011
-I didn't get very far this year before other things took over and I forgot about writing.
*50 book challenge
-I probably read around 50 books a year, so why not count and actually try to do it
*get my driver's license
-I could already have it now, but it's not something that I really care about, so it hasn't happened yet
*get a job
-pretty simple, I have no money and need it
*donate blood
-I hate needles, but I have a lot of healthy blood that I have no need for, and other people need it
*lose weight
-I need to, plain and simple
*try vlogging
-something I have been thinking of doing for a long time now
*fill a journal with meaningful quotes
-I have a love of quotes. My wall of quotes is getting too full.
*learn to write with my right hand (even if it's bad)
-seems like it could be useful, and interesting to see
*write
-anything, anywhere, at anytime. Because I love it


     2011 will be a year to remember, just like 2010 was. I intend to fill it with many more memories, lessons, and friends. So good luck to me, good luck to you, good luck to us all.

I am Who I am.

     Clearly I haven't written in a long while. We're going to skip the excuses and the nonsense and go right to writing, because I am in the mood and I am in control.
     I just wrote this, in about 3 minutes. I flipped over on my bed and saw my room from a completely different view. A view of the same room that I am in every single day. It got me thinking, which got me writing. Don't question. It usually gets you into a mess. Here:

A different view can make all the difference. I don't care whether it's the view from a different tower, a different country, a different planet. Just change the view. Open your mind and let the view teach you. Let it show you space and colour, depth and precision. Let your view change your mind, your opinion, your life. It may be a change for the better; it may be a change for the worse. The point? Change. No one likes the same things over and over, no matter how much they argue about safety, comfort, or a love of something. A change throws you into a new situation, with new problems, and new ways to solve them. A change will expand your comfort zone, introduce you to things you never knew existed, never knew you liked, or didn't like. So change the view. Angle your head a little differently, take the path you usually don't, or create a new one. If it doesn't change you, even in the slightest way, in the farthest future, in a way you never thought would matter, then I will admit defeat. But I know I won't have to. Things will change. 

     I think that if weren't lazy and a one shot writer that that paragraph could be edited into something more comprehensible, but I am who I am, and it's going to stay like that. Hmm, a block.
     So the winter break is coming up, 2 more days to be exact. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I am, but I'm also not. I don't want to leave my friends for that long. Pathetic, I know, but whatever. I'm going to have a lot of work to do over the break, most of which will be put off until the last couple days, because once again, I am who I am. There are a lot of other things I'd like to get done over the break, including a lot of thinking and planning. *Sigh* So much for peace and relaxation.
     So I didn't do NaNoWriMo. I can't remember if I wrote about that before, but who cares. If I haven't and you want to understand, use Google. I'm not a search engine. I got about 150 words, then got sidetracked, then forgot, then just didn't care. So became the Great 2010 NaNo-fiasco. I'll try harder next year. One thing I did get out of NaNo was the BFS List.
     The BFS List is the Big, Fun, Scary list. It's supposed to be a list of things you want to accomplish, big, fun, or scary, in the coming year. I have composed a small list, but will not post it until later, once I've reviewed it and all.
     But now I am tired.

Procrastination Creation

     When I write my posts, I always leave the title for the end. I do this because I never really know what I'm going to write about. Also, I love to write a catchy, brilliant title. Sometimes this means a lot of thinking, and sometimes it doesn't.
     This is the first time that I blog while listening to music. I usually don't because I like to write in a quiet environment, but there is music playing downstairs, and conversation in the kitchen, so I have to block that out. I am going to put my Playlist.com playlist on my blog, so that you can listen to the music that I listen to while I write. It's currently all Nerdighter music, but it's still really good music.
     I am aware that I was supposed to post during the week, and that it is currently Sunday. But this week has been insane. I have a great skill in an area that I really ought not too. Procrastination. I had put off starting my ancient histories project for too long. I only started it two days before the first part was due, which was Thursday, and I stayed up until past midnight Wednesday night finishing it. The next part is due this Thursday, so I won't be posting before then, I can guarantee. I have also been busy with yearbook and student council this week. I really don't know what I have gotten myself into this year.
     Also this week, I witnessed history. Before going to school on Wednesday morning, I saw two of the miners being taken out of the mine from Chile. They had been trapped in the mine for 69 days. I saw number 6 and 7 getting removed from the mine. It was extremely touching and made me rethink a lot of things. I cannot even imagine being anywhere, in one place, for more than a month, let alone over two. All of them were safely removed, and returned to their families. Last I heard, all but two were out of the hospital.
     So it seems that posting a picture has become pretty normal on here. So I think I'm going to start posting a picture at the end of every post. I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here, (metaphorically of course) and post a picture with a quote as well. I love quotes. I have a lot of quotes, pages of them, saved on my computer. I also have a wall full of quotes, and artwork, but mostly quotes. I'll get a picture of that sometime.

          So, have a good week. I'll try, I really will. But now I have to get my homework done. After I add the music playlist. See, more procrastination! Don't procrastinate, and DFTBA my friends.

[No birds were harmed in the making of this or any previous posts. I swear.]

A Beginning to Everything

     There is a beginning to everything. A beginning to every story, movie, and life. They are all different, though they may have their similarities. But none are exactly the same. Now I'm not sure what to say. I've never been good at beginnings. But I've got to start somewhere. How about I start with what is annoying me most right now. That would be the autosave button on the post creator. Pretty much every time I stop typing, the little button that says save now at the bottom of the screen turns dark blue, and autosaves a draft of my post. It's very useful though, in case there is a power fail, or my computer instantaneously combusts. Otherwise, all it does is distracts me, because every time it blinks, my eyes are brought to the bottom of the screen to look at that little button. And it's driving me insane.
     To start off, I think I should tell you that I am a Nerdfighter. No, I do not fight nerds, nor do I have any aversion to them. Why? Well, because I am a nerd. The term Nerdfighter was brought to life by the Vlogbrothers. They are Youtube vloggers. I am not going to go into what a Nerdfighter is, because that would take up quite a lot of time which I don't have. So, I'm going to do the nerdy thing and link you to the How to be a Nerdfighter video. By no means is this to pressure you into being a Nerdfighter, but it may help in the future to explain some of the jokes, and also it's an awesome video.
     So I have a great fear of the about you section on websites. It's just so freaking intimidating to me. It just sits there are laughs at me because it knows that I don't like it. And why don't I like it, you may ask? Well, the thing is, I just don't see the point in it. Sure, you can go to that little box and learn some "interesting facts" about me, or you can talk to me or read my blog, which is essentially the reason for the blog. So over time, this blog is going to become one giant about me section, and then it can laugh at the little, blank about me section.
     Lastly, before I actually post this and leave, I want to explain the reasoning behind my blog name and display name, Dandelions Fly. It was an inspiration from both my blog background, which is dandelions, and also from one version of the initialism of DFTBA, found in Hank's rap DFTBA. If you don't know what initialism or DFTBA is, then you clearly didn't watch the linked video, which means shame on you. And you know what? I'm not going to tell you. The version of the initialism that I took inspiration from is "Dandelions Fly Through Blue Air." I thought it sounded beautiful, and also, Dandelions Fly just sounds kind of dreamy and spacey, which is going to be how this blog is a lot of the time.
     So, enjoy the videos, don't be shy to tell Hank and John that I sent you, not like they're going to know who I am anyway, and I will write again soon. Hopefully. I will try for at least once a week. So, have a good week, and DFTBA my friends.