And Now for a Proper Post about Prom...

Indeed. He was super handsome, I felt really pretty, and we had an amazing, wonderfully perfect night together.
Sometimes, in moments of brilliant color involving flashing lights and gorgeous clothes, high school can really be beautiful.
He picked me up around 4:30 and we went to a mutual guy friend's house, where we took a bunch of pictures together and with two other girls. Then we went to aforementioned boy's date's house, stopping on the way to see my date's mom at her work. She said how nice we looked and then sent us off. It was so nice talking to him in the car; we just talked about everything and he is such a gentleman. (so Darcy-esque) Eventually we all ended up going to dinner at Morton's, which is a really nice steakhouse here, and then we went to prom! We all danced all night and had a lovely time. Afterward, we went to a party briefly, but it was kind of boring, so my date and I went to a friend's house and hung out there for a while until he took me home. :)
It was very nice.

A Piano.

Piano

Perfect! I just had to do this the other day... :)
When I need to relax (i.e., because of Prom nerves, college freak-outs, etc.) I ride my bike somewhere, which lets me think more clearly. Sometimes I go to the library and I read or look for books of music or art to take home.
Primarily, I guess (I probably should have put this first), I play the piano and compose music. The wonderful thing about playing the piano is that pianos turn up all the time whenever you go somewhere. You sit down on the bench and see the keys, and whether you're in Shanghai or Visby, you're at home. Playing the piano gives me a sense of gravity when I feel like I'm not anchored to anything.

Technically,

I didn't post this the day of. I am a NaBloPoMo failure! At least it's not November!

Well, Prom was wonderful! Really really perfect and happy. I will post pictures soon, and if you want them sooner, they are already on facebook; my date posted them. :)

I have a permanent smile these days.

:)

Prom is Today!

Hooray hooray hooray!

Today I Met Pico Iyer!

Yep. Today I met the author of The Open Road, a great book about the mission and teachings of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. I went to the Rancho Las Palmas Hotel around eleven, where I met about seven other students from AP English who were selected to go talk to Mr. Iyer. We met in a conference room before the lunch and speech and Mr. Iyer talked to the high school students and we got to ask him questions. He told us a really interesting thing about the way he writes: When he decides to write on a particular subject, it is because he has a different perspective on that subject than he feels another writer would have. It's a really cool way to impart of culture he's learned. For instance, he wrote The Open Road because he personally knows the Dalai Lama and knew he could offer a different perspective on his character and philosophy than other scholars. At the end of the student meeting, I asked him to sign my copy of the book, and he did. It was extremely cool.

Sorry about that post last night; I didn't have the time or energy to write coherently, so that's just what happened. I guess I could edit it later and write something interesting about yesterday.

Today I took the AP Microeconomics Exam, which is not as bad as I thought it was. I felt all right about the multiple choice, and I know I did really well on the last question of the free response bit of the test. True, I am not positive I aced the thing, but I have a feeling I passed. I hope.

Anyway, I have been composing a very lovely piece that I am obsessed with playing very fast, and very often. In fact, all the time. It's not actually finished yet, but hopefully I will find some more inspiration and get it done. (Hmmm, Leslie; guess what it's about. :) Yay!)

(Augh. It's weird to do a smiley within parentheses.)

That's all for tonight, then!

Blah

Post for NaBloPoMo. Good night.

"Ulterior"

Emily Brown

Mrs. Blank

AP English Literature, Period 6

12 May 2009

Assignment

Please write five sentences using the following vocabulary word:

ulterior • \ul-TEER-ee-er\  • adjective

1 a : further, future

 

* b : more distant : remoter

 

c : situated on the farther side : thither

2 : going beyond what is openly said or shown and especially what is proper

(Ulterior, ulterior, ulterior, thinks Miss Brown. There are only so many ways I can go with this. Then again, what are the chances I can use this word properly without saying "motives?"

They are not great.)

(Well, am going to Paris soon)

• She couldn't tell if he had an ulterior meaning when he told her he was also going to Paris in the summer.
• Then again, boys that nice just don't have ulterior motives.

(Could make classical Literature reference. Have been reading Pride and Prejudice and Cloud Atlas of late and old words seeping into speech. Merriam Webster says it was used thus:)

• Jane Eyre roomed in an ulterior end of Thornfield.
• She went to an ulterior area of England when she found out Mr. Rochester was married to that madwoman, Bertha.

(What else? What else? Aha! Other reference to play:)

• Algernon, in The Importance of Being Earnest, nearly always had an ulterior meaning, which contributed invaluably to the satire of the play.

(Bam. That's done.)

Word of the Day

A desperate need calls for desperate measures, and since I am in desperate need of something to write about, I have decided on a rather clever thing, I think. I looked up the word of the day on Merriam-Webster, and I am going to talk about whatever it makes me think of. 

This should be interesting.

And the word is.............................................

"whinge • \WINJ\  • verb

: to complain fretfully : whine"

The interesting thing about this word is that neither it nor "whine" were actually derived from one another; they have completely separate roots. I just had to say that because the page devoted an entire cute digression about it on the bottom of the screen.

Whinging, whinging, whinging...

What can I write about whinging?

I don't have a lot to whinge about, currently. The only thing I can think of in particular is that the AP Environmental Science test is tomorrow. Other than the fact that I have to go study for it, I am perfectly content.

Someone remind me to order a boutonierre for Saturday.

Good night, then.

Mother's Day!!!

Today was quite a lovely Mother's Day; I think my mom had a really great time and I saw my grandmother later today, which was very cool. :) I may have had a better time than both of them, however. Today in church I sang in a quartet with my sister and two other girls; we've been practicing the song for a while.

After church, our whole family sat around playing Apples to Apples together for an hour, waiting and waiting for Collin to call. Missionaries from the Mormon church only get 2 phone calls per year, one on Christmas and the other on Mother's Day. So today he called; we each talked to him and asked questions (with everyone there, of course) and we recorded the whole hour and seventeen minutes with GarageBand. :)

For another thing... we went to our grandparents' house later that day and had dinner together and stuff. Later that night, I was exploring the bookshelves and stuff, which I tend to do when I am there, and I found a binder of letters Grandma wrote to her parents while she was at college and dating Grandpa. It was so cool! I read a bunch of them aloud to everyone; it was so interesting to see how she wrote and behaved so close to my age. I loved it. Later in the binder, there was a journal Grandma's mom kept about her when she was little. It was extremely interesting, especially when I noticed similarities between her and myself. Dad wasn't surprised, however, since those come up all the time. :) I love her.

Shmurf.

NaBloPoMo. Oh no. It's so late. Early.

I don't really know what to post about, but today my date brought me my ticket for prom along with this book he is lending me, both of which I am quite excited about. The book is called Cloud Atlas and is by David Mitchell. I am only a few pages into it now, but it is really good. My date tells me it's about the deterioration of the English language. So far, the beginning has a lot of really weird words I've never heard before. I haven't looked them up, though. :/ That's what our English teacher says we should do, but it does sort of ruin the fluidity of reading to be looking at the dictionary every few minutes. Oh well.
Anyway, I'm really excited about it, so I'll post more when I am done. :)

Hooray!

The AP English test went really well! I may have even got a five! The multiple choice was definitely the easiest, but I felt really good about my essays, too! We'll see about it! :)
Leslie, you need to come over!

Welll...

Tomorrow is the AP English Literature test and I feel very prepared for it. Today I went to my friend Christina's house and we reviewed Hamlet together because it's one of those plays we can never remember. :) After the test, my entire class is going to Chipotle, which should be fun!
What else? Lately I have been rereading Pride and Prejudice, which only gets better every time. Mr. Darcy is probably every woman's default boyfriend. Har har har. I am working on writing new music, which is fun, but going slightly slow.
Also, subconsciously and sometimes with definite thought, I am thinking and planning for prom! :)

Take Two: Donating Blood

Today I donated blood for the SECOND time ever! It was fairly scary because the lady was kind of new (you can just tell) and she couldn't find my vein. It was somewhat painful and made me very dizzy. I blacked out a little on the way out, so when I got home, I laid down on the floor in the living room and put my feet on the couch.
Donating blood is important, so even if this experience wasn't quite as idyllic as the last, I still did SOMETHING good today. I am happy. :)

More News About BYU!!

I know where I'm going to live next year! Last week I got my housing all ready and such and I also found out who my roommates are and added them on facebook! They seem really cool! One is from South Africa.
I am so psyched about being able to study what I want to study at college! I am going to be double majoring in English and Music Composition! It's going to be amazing!!!
Plus, I have all these cousins who will be there and we are going to rule the campus!
In unrelated news, I took the AP Government Test today and it wasn't half bad. :)

Hmmmm....

Not much to post about tonight, so this is mostly just so I can keep doing NaBloPoMo.
Today, my grandmother came over and we planned some more of our Paris trip this summer. We're also thinking of stopping in Copenhagen to see the Christus and stuff, and because we have ancestors there. I am so psyched!!!

If the Pizza Girl met the Latte Boy...

As some of you may know, the Jonas Brothers (popular fraternal teen boy band) recently came out with a song called "Pizza Girl." Likewise, Kirsten Chenoweth sang a cute song a little while back called "Taylor the Latte Boy."

The question is, then, since both food-associated persons are so apparently entrancing, why don't Pizza Girl and Latte Boy get together???

Just a random thought. Someone should set them up.

LESLIE, YOU NEED TO READ THIS.

This is NaBloPoMo Post number one, guys! The theme for May is sweet, apparently, and in that vein, I'm sure I will think of a lot to write about.

For instance, there is the matter of food.
Family can occasionally be sweet.
Movies, chick flicks specifically, can be sweet.

But, more specifically, this post is about something rather romantic/sweet that happened to me yesterday.

Yes, friends, relatives, blogstalkers.

I got asked to prom by an awesome guy.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(jumps up and down in a happy dance, my sister adds)

I am terribly, explosively, and incandescently happy.

Pluse, I just went to Mormon Prom last weekend, so I have already had a practice version. So I pretty much know exactly what I'm going to look like, only this time I can do it better. Bwahaha.

YES!

Take the Quiz here!

Just a quick post!

I'm home this morning because, due to Standardized testing, seniors don't have to go to school until 10:50! It's really nice and I don't have to get up quite so early. 

Anyway, I just wanted to post about this: 

My friend and I wrote a song for graduation which we've been working on all year. Recently, we invited our other guy friend to play the guitar with us. We rehearsed the song a few times and it sounded really good. We all sing, so I was on the piano, this guy on guitar, and all of us harmonizing. We tried out last Friday to sing at graduation and we won! I am really happy about it. :))))

Also, I am working on a new classical song! We'll see how it turns out! :)

"Wake up and find themselves here..."

I didn't realize how much I related to the author of this book until I got near the end. Dillard plummeted from childhood into adulthood, banging away on the piano, writing poetry in the style of classics and in foreign languages, reading books endlessly, and falling in love (all while disappointing everyone and not caring). I read this book just when I felt like my childhood was going. My brother had left for college, I couldn't stop thinking about everything, and I felt trapped inside my skull. When I read An American Childhood, I realized that other people had felt the way I did. To an extent, I felt as if the book were a little about me.

Look at this Book!

I just had to post on this, since I found this book on the internet a long time ago and then discovered a file with this picture on the computer. I love how they write my name!It looks like such a cute book. Maybe someone who reads this will know what it's about. Haha.

Senioritis

So.... I go to school every day, get to Economics first period, and then I wish I was at home. This happens in 2nd period, 3rd, and so on. Except maybe not 4th because the guy I like is in that class. Ha.

It seems like during second semester- no, way before second semester- all my classes seem useless and pointless. That is, going to my classes doesn't really help me learn or pass whatever AP test I am working toward. Come on! I've already been accepted into college! Can I just go now?
This particular instance had more to back it up, however. On Thursday I got really sick and my Mom let me come home, so I slept forever and took painkillers, etc.
I guess I'm not necessarily homesick, then. More like anywhere-but-PDHS-sick.

Dresses

Okay.  In the event that I do get in to Open Call (which I find out about tonight) I will need a dress. Also, when I go to Mormon Prom (and normal prom) this year, I will need a dress. These will, in all probability, be the same dress. And I am already scouring the internet for the right one. So what about these?

$235

$115

$385

The site says the purple one and the red one are in good condition. Not so much for the green, but I really like the color. :/ What do you think, reader(s)?

The World is Really An Awesome Place

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEE WHY YOU

OHMYGOSH. Applications are all in, first semester is over, and everyone in high school has senioritis and is SO READY for college. NOW! I've already been accepted to Idaho and Hawaii, but, of course, BYU's admission decision is the last to come. They started sending letters beginning this Monday, and the last day to find out is February 27th. I want to go there so much. They have the most amazing English and Music programs ever, which is what I'm double majoring in. Plus their Honors program is super awesome and makes me ecstatic just thinking about it.

Well, I have to go start learning my music for All-State in March. Hooray music!

My Audition

I know the suspense has been killing you, reader, so here is what transpired at my Open Call audition last night.

Mom drove me to the McCallum around 8:30, since the email I got from them said to be there fifteen minutes early. My audition was at nine. I was wearing a white scoopneck blouse, a navy pencil skirt, and these new heels I got a few weeks ago. (I'm just saying... I put thought into this. I had to look like a gorgeous prodigy composer, whether I really am or not.)

When we arrived, I went in the back door of the theatre, signed in, and went to the green room. (Luckily, I had a performance there in December with my choir, so I was already familiar) The Varsity Dance Team from my high school was there, and had just tried out, and so I said hi to the girls I knew. Also, the kid who won last year (who's about a year younger than me, I think) and his two sisters were all there. 

I felt kind of embarrassed that I didn' t know anyone really well. Plus, all these people had at least some experience with Open Call, so I was a bit inept in comparison. The audition before mine was the guy and his sisters; they played a very cool trio all together on the piano, even though I only heard a little of it when someone opened the door. I stayed in the green room and talked to one of the girls from the dance team and pretty soon, I was alone in the Green Room. I was the last one to audition.

When a lady came in and told me I was next, I walked through the stage door and out to center stage, trying to keep good posture and look confident, and said,

"Good evening; my name is Emily Brown. I am seventeen years old; I'm from Rancho Mirage, and I will be performing a piece I composed called, 'June Impression.'"

Then I walked over to the piano, sat down and took a deep breath, placing my fingers on the keys.

Then I took another breath, and began to play.

The first thought I had was how beautiful the tone of the piano was. It was a Steinway, and while the keys appeared somewhat worn, the piano was spectacularly in tune, with a clear, smooth tone unlike any piano I have ever played before. I kept my shoulders back and concentrated on dynamics, remembering to keep certain bits stacatto.

Somewhere near the middle, and slowest part of the piece I felt somewhat nervous and started shaking a little. The muscles of my calf were spastically quivering while I held down the sustain pedal. I plunged myself in the music, and finished the piece with some small mistakes.

When I was done, I lifted my fingers from the keys gently, (which my piano teachers have been trying to teach me to do as long as I can remember) and stood up. The judges applauded politely. I said, "Thank you," though maybe not audibly enough, bowed, and began to walk off stage.

"Emily," said one of twenty or thirty judges. This one was a guy, about fifty, to my right.

I stopped.

"Are you classically trained?"

"Yes, I am," I replied.

"Who are some of your favorite composers?"

"Mmm...Chopin, Debussy...I have a favorite piece by Grieg," I trailed.

"Yes," he said. "That piece reminded me so much of Debussy."

I smiled again, said "Thank you," bowed, while they applauded again, and walked off stage.

On the way out, the guy in charge of sound said goodbye to me; so did some other people. I went back to the Green Room and got my bag. Another guy said goodbye and asked if I got my tape and then laughed when he realized I obviously didn't have a tape. Coming to the back door, I said goodbye to the guy at the front desk, and then pushed my way into the cold air outside.

And then- it was as if there was not enough air in the world. I literally started gasping for breath, shaking all over and crying. All I could think about was how much I wanted this, to get in to the show and perform my piece for everyone who would listen. I kept this up, until I got to the car. Then I took another breath, smiled, and got in to tell Mom how it went.

Hopefully I made it, guys. Everyone cross your fingers!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!

By the way, I want a piano just like this one:

It's got an interesting story behind it, too. Click on the picture for a link! :)

Rhymes with Coeppen (a rare surname in the U.S.) Thrall

Unscramble the letters to figure out this phrase!

celp anlo

Can you decode this clever anagram?

CLAP NOEL

27. Of the following responses, choose the best answer:

What is the name of the Coachella Valley wide talent show, hosted by the McCallum Theatre?

a. Free For All, a title which makes clear the fact that all amateur performers are invited to participate.

b. Big and Small, which means people of all sizes are free to join in the show.

c. Open Call, a name which basically sucks but reflects the idea nonetheless.

If you chose answer "A," you are for human rights! Congratulations! You should be a Libertarian, since Libertarians are awesome and they wish the government would leave everyone's rights alone.

If you chose answer "B," you are probably short or tall and wish more talent shows would accomodate your size.

If you chose answer "C," you have something in common with the staff of the McCallum Theatre, since they chose that name over the vastly superior "Free for All." (Plus, also, wouldn't it be cool if the show was at the Civic Center Park and it was actually free?)

Yes, reader. The correct answer to all three questions and the title is...

Open Call.

This year, it is vaguely important to me that I get into Open Call. I've never tried out before, and since I'm off to college next year, this is sort of my last chance. I sent in an audio recording of "June Impression," one of my compositions, and as of Thursday night, I have made it to the next level: Live Auditions. So now I've been practicing my song over and over, trying to act like I have some level of stage presence. I just want them to know that this is really important. This is my composition. My baby! If they don't pick me, it's like a diss to my life's work!

Which brings me to the fact that when I finally grow up, I want to write scores for movies. To practice, I am going to buy movies, strip the sound from them, and then write new soundtracks. I think that will be really fun. :)

In entirely unrelated news, I have basically memorized Dylan Thomas's "Fern Hill," my new favorite poem, with less than seventeen mess-up points. Thus:

"Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs,

About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green...

Umm. As the grass was green...

Argh."

I actually do know the next line. That's just a scenario of what it's like at different points in the poem. Very scary.

Anyway, everyone please cross your fingers that I make it into Open Call!

I can't remember whether I wrote about this fountain when I was in Visby, but as you can see, it is a girl holding a seashell, which is spurting water. As we walked past this fountain one of the first few times, I imagined her saying, "I can hear the ocean... Hey- I can feel the ocean!"

Anyway, I just found these pictures on my computer and I thought I would tell that little story. 

In recent news, I have been riding the bike I got for Christmas everywhere and will post pictures of it soon. I rode it to church yesterday, which was an adventure. My skirt kept scooting up my legs. Mom thinks maybe I could get weights for my skirt, like the ones you put on a tablecloth. Also, as I was crossing Monterey, my shoe fell off, so I had to pick it up, turn around, and start across the intersection all over again. Phew!

I have to go clean so I can go to the movies with Madelyn, but I will write a new post as soon as I think of something interesting to write about!

Otras cosas...

So... a couple weeks ago, I was at a choir performance in Palm Springs when my friend "Joe" came up to me and said, "Okay, Emily, brace yourself."
"Okay..." I said obliviously.

"We all got into All-State!" said Joe. (Meaning himself, the other guy who was in regional, and I)

Upon which, I literally squealed. A lady who  had been talking to us about our performance said something about insurance. :)

Anyway, it will be in March and I am very excited, of course! You are all invited to come and see me in the choir. I am sure it will be sensational!

I have more to tell, but I will do it when I have pictures to illustrate.

It is SO the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

And I would just add- FINALLY. I think I have been anticipating this season since about July. Thank goodness it's here. I'm already doing my best to be nicer to everyone and make changes for the better in my life. Forget the election (I couldn't vote in it anyway); Christmas is officially a time for change. I challenge everyone who actually reads this blog to find one way to make the world a little better, no matter what you're celebrating. Visit relatives you haven't seen in a while, volunteer at a soup kitchen, and if you can handle it, begin the process of mending severed ties with someone you used to be friends with. After all, how can we have peace on earth without peace in high school?

Or whatever microcosm of the world you're part of. High school is just my case.

Anyway, this Christmas is going to be amazingly joyful. It's my last one living at home (hopefully, Mom generally adds here) since I'll be off to college next year. It should be full of school choir performances, church choir practices and concert, gift giving, charity, and a lot of new realizations about Christmas for me. I'm reading the New Testament right now, so I'm looking out for epiphanies.

You have a Merry Christmas too! This season (and anything, really) will be what you make it- what you want it to be! I'm sure it will be wonderful. :)

Letters That Are Not for Me

Some of you may know that when I was in eighth grade, I had a huge Billy Joel fetish. It was pretty serious. :)  I still love Mr. Joel's music, voice, and sincerity, but it now appears that my love of them has gone too far.

You will understand momentarily.

They ask you if you want letters from the Army and Navy and such, remember? Since I'm not interested in the military or any of that, I tried to thwart those questions in any way possible. And even though I'm pretty positive I checked "No" whenever they asked me, apparently, on one fateful instance, I enscribed Billy Joel's name onto a line meant for me. I don't remember it, but it must have happened because of what has ensued since.

Ha ha ha. Truth is stranger than fiction, huh? :)

You Will Never Believe How Amazing of a Day this has Been

So. All in ONE WONDERFULLY WONDERFUL DAY:

I notated a song I wrote yesterday.

I talked to my crush for a while today at lunch. 

As a side note, My sister thinks he likes me. :)))))))

I took pictures at a photo shoot for the high school yearbook for Senior Mosts; I won iTunes Featured Artist, which is basically most musical. :)

I went and saw Ray Bradbury at the Rancho Mirage Public Library!! It was basically the most enlightening experience of my whole entire freaking life! Har har har.

Really, though, he was a very nice, wise old man who was all too willing to impart of his knowledge to a grateful audience. At least, grateful on my part. I can't vouch for everyone else.

I even got a picture with him. I just have to put it up here because it makes me so happy!!!

Miss Brown Conquers Her Infirmities and Gets a Giant Needle Stuck in her Arm

Yes, you have read that mouthful of a title correctly.  Ladies and Gents, for the first time in my seventeen years, yesterday, I donated blood.

It was scary. It was nerve-wracking. But at the end of it, it was a self-fulfilling experience. All the way. :)

They even gave me a shirt:

I will now give you, readers, a play-by-play account of what it was like.

It starts like this:

We have known about the blood drive for a few weeks now. I am seventeen, so I can legally donate whenever I feel like it, apparently. But I am, as those of you who know me can attest, a bit of a wimp. I've heard many terrifying horror stories where the nurse didn't know what she was doing and dug around in someone's arm looking for a vein. People pass out if they haven't eaten enough. Even my Dad, who is a giant at 6'4" and the last person you'd expect to freak out, faints when he gives blood. 

So I have my reasons, right?

But then there are those reasons why we should. Donating blood does amazing things like saving people who are dying from blood loss. When you donate, you're basically doing your part to help save the world. Not to mention that I have O Negative blood, which I kind of consider my personal mandate from the universe to donate blood as much as possible. (O Negative can donate to all blood types)

But anyway, all day I was asking people whether they were going to donate. I decided that I would go fifth period, since I could eat and stuff at lunch and I would be less likely to have a bad experience. So, at lunch, I ate some chips, which was really not enough, and then when it was over, a bunch of friends and I went to the Mini-Gym at school and began the process.

First, you sign in. This is so that they can attest that you missed class for legitimate reason. They ask you a bunch of questions about whether you have donated before and stuff. Then, you fill out this little form, and if you forgot your ID like I did, you get a temporary one printed out in the counseling office. Then you go back. They made me eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drink water since I hadn't eaten enough. Then I waited in a line of chairs, after which they enter you into their program. Then you wait in another line of chairs. All the while I am talking to my friend Courtney and my other friend Caitlin and saying positive things like "I am not scared. At all." 

When I was next, this lady called me into this little booth and asked me all sorts of questions about my health and weird things about who you've had sex with. I should have just said I was a virgin right off. I could have skipped so many of those. :) The only question I answered yes was whether I have been out of the country in the last 3 years. You know all about that. Then she took my blood pressure and stuck my finger to see if I'm anemic. I'm not. Then I went and sat in a chair and waited.

Eventually it was my turn and the nurse who was with me took my blood pressure again and put this tourniquet thing on my arm. You know what I mean, probably. Then she rubbed my arm with iodine on this giant q-tip, which tickled a lot. Then again, I'm ticklish pretty much everywhere. Sometime in there, she had me squeeze that little stress ball so she could find my vein. My veins aren't really visible from the surface, but she found them okay. Phew. :)

And then I looked away and she stuck the needle in.

It didn't hardly even hurt! At first, when I was squeezing the ball, I flexed my wrist upward, which hurt because I could feel the needle, but if you bend your wrist back, the needle stays straight and it's okay. :) Then the lady noticed my trip on the question paper, so I told her about it and she talked about how her grandma went to Vienna. And pretty soon it was over and she took the thing out and wrapped blue gauze stuff on my arm and then I was drinking water and eating cookies. You have to stay in the waiting area for about fifteen minutes and drink juice or whatever. I went to the bathroom and then I came back and hung out with my friends. 

We got T-shirts, even though they only had large and extra large left, and we stuck stickers on ourselves. They said things like "I survived the blood drive," "Done Sangre," which is Italian, and "Kiss me; I gave blood today." Courtney and I went back to English together, eventually. In English we talked about a poem. After class, my friend Scott was so proud of me for donating blood that he gave me a giant hug. :) And then I got my Passive Voice quiz back and I got 100%! Mrs. Marshall even put a sticker on it! :) Ha ha ha.

So that's the end of donating blood. Everyone should do it. Especially me. I live right near the hospital here, so I will be. I might have just been really happy because it wasn't a catastrophe, but I really felt like some kind of superhero. I kind of didn't want to take the gauze stuff off, except that it was bugging my arm.

Hmmmm. The End. :)

This will be short-

Okay, here's what's been going on, briefly:

-I made SVCA Honor Choir! We will be performing in November. :)

-I went to the dance on Saturday and it was very fun.

- I got a senior most for the yearbook! It's called iTunes Featured Artist and it's for the most musical senior girl and boy! Yessssssssss...

-I am still alive after the Death of a Salesman test!

Anyway, I am pretty happy and I will post something interesting as soon as I have more time. 

Last Night

This is just a poem that entered my head last night after I sang at the Homecoming Game, so I thought I'd get it down here, broken and incomplete though it may be.

We, together,

Were singing. But I was singing aloud

And like a Greek play, we all knew the story

And its ending note. I was the choragos

But we were the chorus

Okay... not that one. That just spewed out out of my fingers randomly. This is actually what I was thinking.

All the world looked goodness

And the stars were surely closer

While I existed smiling

Sipping sweet effervescence

And drinking deep from the yellow cup of happiness

Dear Leslie,

I guess I just wanted to write this post because it sounded like a cool, best-friend like thing to do. And since it sounds like things are pretty hard.

Which is why I will be calling you in about five seconds.

So let me just say (and look out, everyone who is allergic to corniness)... well, let me just say a lot of things.

 I am so amazingly glad that I met you at that random scripture mastery event when we were both hanging out with David.

I am just as ecstatic that we became better friends at Girls' Camp that one year when I played piano for you and we talked about Pride and Prejudice.

 I am thrilled and overjoyed that we hung out at every stake dance after that and floated your rubber duck in the sink that one time.

I am amazed that we became the best of friends just as I was going through a turbulent time in my life with other, less wonderful friends.

I am so blessed to be able to look back on all the awesome times and Wednesdays we have had together, the British Movie Marathons, the cookies on your birthday, going to plays, and everything in between. :)

And I am crazily happy that you are still the most awesome, strong, righteous, artistic, coherent, educated, wonderful friend that you have always been to me.

So, thank you.

It's looking like it's time for a Leslie and Emily British Marathon Day... which is probably why I felt so weird and discouraged about going to Homecoming on Saturday. :)

And if I ever do get a record deal, I am so paying for all the college you could ask for.

Love, your friend,

Emily

Surviving...

Yes, I have made it through my first ten days of senior year. Really. I'm alive. Not only am I alive, but I'm actually learning new things and I like ALL my classes!

Go ahead, double take. I really said "ALL" of them. And I can tell you why.

1st- Government AP. Take everything with a grain of salt. It can be confusing. But you love the teacher because of his obsession with undiluted truth.

2nd- Dance. This teacher is a little weird, but half my friends are in this class. Plus stretching in the middle of the day really is heaven.

3rd- AP Environmental Science, nicknamed "APES." I love it! We watched "The Lorax" within the first few days of class, we played a game outside about deer population vs. resources... let's just say this is extremely interesting. Conservation!!

4th- Choir. I've been doing this for the past three years, and now that it's my final year, it just feels like home. Sure, everyone's new and I've been here longer than the current director, but choir is seriously (no joke) one big, adorably musical family.

Feel free to giggle with warm fuzzies.

5th- Spanish. I thought I would really dislike the teacher at first, but I really like it now. We did an oral last week and I brought in my guitar and sang my oral in front of my class. They loved it, and my teacher basically asked me if I would do that every time. I said yes. It is so fun and I am learning so much about Spanish!

6th- English- duh. You know I love English. My teacher is hilarious; we have Friday Funnies and she tells us jokes. We talk about Jane Eyre a lot, which I actually LOVED, unlike the majority of my classmates.

And that's the day. I'll just post this, since my grandparents just arrived and we should be eating dinner soon. :)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH!

Tomorrow is the first day of school.
(wails torturously, emphatically)
I'm just not ready. I'm just not emotionally, mentally, even physically prepared to get back into the same old cesspool that is high school. I can't stand having a spiritual artillery firing at me all day, every day, needless to say, while I am trying to do well and get into college.
Thank goodness for home. :) I shore love home.
Mom wants me off, I have to go....

Back at home!

Well, all three of my adventures were a BLAST, and I don't feel like writing about them here since that's all I've been doing in my journal of late. To sum it up, I made a lot of new friends (Megan, Beth, Gus, Mykalanne- to name a few) and learned a lot about myself. I've been doing much better at scripture study and prayer and I've started writing a book, which I'm really proud of, even though it's only about 12 pages long, and that's in my handwriting. :)
On Monday Leslie came over and we celebrated her birthday together by making cookies and watching part of Sense and Sensibility and all of Truly Madly Deeply (I'd forgotten how sad that was). Anyway, we had a fun night, and now Leslie's 19!!!!
Last night I went and saw Batman: the Dark Night with my friend Mykalanne. IT WAS SUCH AN AWESOME movie! I actually think I want to go see it again. It was so thrilling, but then there were all these cool lines and monologues (especially by the Joker) that I completely adored. I was not disappointed. Myky is writing a story about the Joker right now, so I'm helping her with it. We wrote a little bit after the movie and then we just ran around the River for a few hours before we remembered that other people existed and we were probably supposed to call and have someone take us home. So my Mom picked us up and that was the night.
Collin's farewell is this Sunday, and I'm a little scared, but I'm glad he's doing the right thing and going on a mission. :) I'll miss him.
I guess that's all.

Leaving, again...

Well, tomorrow I am off to Lake Powell and after that, to EFY! It should be pretty exciting and fun, but nonetheless, I am not particularly pleased with having to leave again.
First, I didn't get to have my rehab day with Leslie this week, because of jet lag, getting wickedly sick on Wednesday and having to lay around the house in a stupor all day, and that days after effects hanging over the whole week.
Second, having to pack and worrying over what to bring and all of that.
And third, having to give a devotional at the Youth Conference, finishing planning camp, and making sure I extend my online math course thing.
And, again, I am really mad that I have to postpone rehab day.
On the upside, the next two weeks will be filled with water games, sunshine, and sandcastles, and then spiritual classes, cute boys, new friends, and (if I make it) a thrilling, euphoria-inducing performance in the variety show.
So...I look forward and backward.
Here I go...

Getting Better...

Well, I stayed in bed until 5:30 this morning! Jet lag is wearing off and things are going pretty well; Leslie and I are planning her birthday in August! It's going to be pretty awesome. :)
Next week I am going to Lake Powell for a church youth trip, and just after that, EFY. It's going to be a busy few weeks, so this is my one week to breathe before more vacation stuff!
I hope everyone enjoyed my blog during our big trip to Europe, and thank you all for reading it and commenting. I'll continue to keep track next time I'm gone and hope your summers are as wonderful as mine!
Love,
Emily

Friday- leaving on a jet plane... (and briefly Saturday and Sunday)

On Friday we woke up freakishly early, got everything together and in the car, and hauled ourselves to the airport(we'd said goodbye the night before). We dropped off the car in the designated parking lot and its keys at the kiosk thingy of the rental company. Then we took a plane from Finland to Heathrow Airport in London. I had a window seat for the first time on this trip. It was cool to see the landmarks we'd already visited from the plane. It seemed kind of surreal, knowing that we'd been there. I wanted to go back (But, then I always do.). :)
We waited at Heathrow for an hour or two, and later we boarded the plane home. On the plane, my movie screen broke, so we used the headphone splitter and I shared screens with Mom and watched The Other Boleyn Girl, which was kind of cool. Later I watched Doctor Who with Dad and then we watched Be Kind, Rewind, which was funny, but kind of lame. They fed us a few times on the plane; the food was better than normal. After ten long hours, we got to LAX, and got off the plane. I called Leslie for about five seconds, but then Mom wanted me to get off the phone. We went through customs, picked up our luggage, got the car, and drove home, with everyone falling asleep in the car.
When we got home, I got my bag out of the car, and promptly went to bed. It was five o'clock.
The next morning, I woke up at two in the morning, suffering from jet lag. A little later, Spencer came in, then Melissa, and hardly later, we were playing Spencer's new board game, Dread Pirate. Mom woke up next, and came in, then Madelyn, Dad, and finally Collin. By five thirty in the morning, Madelyn, Spencer, Melissa and I were all swimming and splashing in the pool. I got out and put my pajamas on and went back to sleep for about two more hours. When I got up, it was only ten and I felt like it was twelve.
Later that day, around five, we saw Wall-E, which was really cute. I worked on this online Math class I'm doing for a while at eightish, when Leslie called and we talked until Mom wanted me to get off and do my work. I went to bed at about nine PM.
Today I woke up at two again, so I stubbornly told my internal clock to shut up and laid in my bed until fourish, when Melissa woke up and asked me to go the the bathroom with her. So I did. We were talking by five thirty.
These are the dangerous effects of jet lag.

Now it's 8:37 and I'm all ready for church! It's good to be home.

I just hope I don't fall asleep during the meeting.

Thursday in Helsinki

I can't really remember Thursday either... we woke up eventually. I read Da Vinci Code a lot that day. We mostly hung out at the house while Dad, Alec, and Collin went to Teemu Selanne's house to play tennis (except Collin didn't get to play). They said it was really nice. Teemu is this hockey player who's on the Ducks and Alec knows him because they're both Finns. :) It's really cool, all the people we get to know through him. We had spaghetti and salad for lunch, and then Alec decided to take us to this go-kart place. It was pretty cool. We all drove go-karts really fast around the track. (Well, not me- I was the slowest one). :) But I had fun too. We wore these funny red suits like we were real drivers at the place. It was really fun. We took some pictures, so you can see what it was like when we download them on here.
After that, we went back to the house and hung around for a while. I read Da Vinci Code some more. Alec and Sari had put on The Little Mermaid for the girls to watch (they want them to learn English words), so, of course, we were all watching it after they got bored of it. Alec invited this Mormon family he knows over and we all had pizza together and talked and stuff. After they left, we got packed and all and we stayed up really late. We thought about pulling an all-nighter, since we had to get up at about three in the morning anyway. I was reading Da Vinci code, and I went down and watched T.V. with everyone else. When Melissa wanted to go to sleep, I went to our room with her and read some more and then flicked the light off and went to bed.

Wednesday, in Helsinki

On Wednesday, we woke up on the cruise ship (which seemed really early), got dressed, packed, and got off the boat in Helsinki. Then the rest of us waited while Alec and Dad picked up the car, which is this great big white Volkswagen van; it seats 10 people! It's really great.
We drove around; Alec had to go to a meeting, so we dropped him off and then drove around in Helsinki for a while. It was pretty; a lot like the other European towns we've been in. We stopped at a little store, and Collin, Spencer, and I went in and bought two pastries and two rolls, some sweet rolls, some peanuts, and a pack of this "yoghurt" drink called Actimel. We ate that in the car, and then we picked up Alec after it had been an hour.
After that, he drove us in the van to his house around a little municipality nearby; it's actually in the forest. It's a pretty house and it was built by one of his relatives 20 years ago. It's very nice and high tech, especially for so long ago. There's this nanny-type person he hired to help around, and she brought us some juice and we talked to her for a while; then Alec showed us around the house. We went back outside and I talked to that lady some more, and now I'm in the car blogging more!
Okay...later on Wednesday we ate dinner, cooked by Sari, which was this really good Thai food stuff with rice. I can't really remember much else, but I picked up the Da Vinci Code at some point (it was in Sari's library) and I read a bunch of it for the first time. It's pretty good and really interesting.
Later Alec drove us around and we geocached and went grocery shopping and bought ice cream and cookies at the store. Then we went home and went to sleep later at Alec's house.
That's Wednesday!

Tuesday in Stockholm and on that weird cruise ship

On Tuesday, we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then we set off to go either to the museum of Technology, or this big outdoor museum called Skansen. Outdoor museums are sort of a weird concept. This one holds a zoo and about a hundred buildings brought from all over Sweden, so it's supposed to give you some insight into the past.
We decided to go to Skansen, since it was the most uniquely Swedish, and we'd been to a Science and Technology museum at home. To get to Skansen, we walked forever (our subway passes had expired; the subway didn't go there anyway) and on the way, we stopped to find a geocache we'd looked up the night before. There was another lady there who was geocaching too, so we found the cache, after some looking (it was very cleverly done) and we chatted for a while afterward with her and her husband. They were from Germany and had been around Stockholm, so they told us about stuff there. It was cool.
After that, we walked into Skansen and hiked up this slope to get to the main part of the park. We looked around for a while, and then we decided we wanted to go to the zoo. First we went to the Children's Zoo, which had little animals like chickens and parakeets and turtles that you could pet if you wanted. it was cute. After that, we went to see some other animals like seals and elk.
Our favorite thing was the bears. The sign said they were Brown Bears and there were these two little cubs, romping around and playing and wrestling together. There was another cub, but it was playing more by itself. They were all really cute. It was the highlight of our trip to the park. We walked some more to the front entrance of the park and there we took a ride on this swing thing (you've seen it, I can't remember what it's called) and after that, we left the park, found another geocache, and then walked to the Vasa to look for another one. I sat with Melissa and attempted to braid her hair while everyone else looked. They couldn't find it. We walked some more for a long time and stopped to eat lunch at around 3:00 at this little place inside an office complex. It was actually really good food, for cheap. There were these paninis and sub sandwiches and good salad and these great brown rolls that were basically unlimited.
When we finished, we walked home to the hotel, packed our bags, and went to board the cruise boat that would take us to Finland. Alec and Dad got our tickets while we waited, and then we boarded the boat. Later, Mom classified it accurately enough; she called it "Vegas on a boat." Yech. There were slot machines, sort of trashy people, bad karaoke, shows to watch, outlets, the works. We went to our cabins and left our stuff there. We hung out on the deck while we were leaving Stockholm and watched stuff. Then we got to go up to the top of the boat where they steer, because Alec knew the captain of the boat, so he gave us a tour. it was pretty cool. Then we went around the boat and booked at a place for dinner. Mom and Melissa and I went to our cabin and slept until it was time to eat.
We got up and met everyone else at the restaurant. I blogged a little at this place where they had a connection to the Internet. We all decided to order the starter buffet for our main course, so we got to try all kinds of weird Finnish foods. Then we got the dessert buffet, which had all these other weird things; I only liked one, which was this cobbler type stuff. Yum.
After dinner, Madelyn and I decided to hang out around the boat together, which is basically what we did until 11:30 at night, which was when Mom wanted us to come back. We ran around the boat, watching the band for the dance play (there was a really cute guy at the piano) and we went to the area they had for teenagers. We wanted to do karaoke, but the queue was all full, and it was late anyway. We also spent a lot of time looking for Alec and Dad, because Mom wanted us to remind them to buy duty-free chocolate and stuff. We went back to the room on time and then we got our pajamas on and went to bed.

Monday in Stockholm

On Monday we got up, went to breakfast and all, and then we got ready and left the hotel. We took the subway to central station, where we walked to city hall, which looks really cool because the tower of it is all gold and shiny with these three crowns above it. We wanted to all take a tour of that, but apparently it can only hold 30 people at once, so Mom, Spencer, and Madelyn all went up while the rest of us stayed down. They thought it was really cool, but by the time they told us it was worth it to go up after them, the line was about 40 people long and we didn't want to wait. By the time they got down it was around 11:30 am. We then decided to walk across a bridge and see the Royal Palace. We saw that, and then while we were walking somewhere else, it started to sprinkle. Shortly thereafter, it started to rain. And minutes later, it was pouring down on us and water was rushing down the gutters of Stockholm.
Great day to forget my umbrella.
We sought shelter under the shade-things at some Pakistani-Indian restaraunt, where we stayed for the bulk of the storm. Some of us wanted to eat there, but Dad didn't want to, so when the rain slowed up, we ran down a street to see if we could get anywhere. By mere coincidence, after we had been searching for the Nobel Prize museum a lot of the day, the very edifice of the Nobel Museum rose up in front of us.
We huddled by some of the doors for a minute while Dad went inside to check it out. Then we walked in together, paid the fee, left our soaking jackets in the cloakroom, and started browsing the museum. It was really cool; there were pictures of the winners and models of things they had discovered; really interesting. We stayed there for an hour or so, looking around and watching informational movies and all that interactive museum type of thing.
After that, we walked around Stockholm for a while, looking for a cheap place to eat lunch and somewhere to get an ATM, since we were out of cash. After a lot of walking, we found a junky hamburger place and Dad went to look for an ATM.
We ate lunch and then we walked to the Vasa museum, which is a great big building that houses a boat from the 1600s. The Vasa was commissioned by some Swedish king who gave the boat builders some if not all impossible, then impractical demands. It had two gun decks, loads of gilding and paint all over it, and had insufficient ballast to keep it from tipping over.
On its maiden voyage, the boat was sent into a harbor of Stockholm to parade before the king. Unfortunately, before it ever reached any destination, during a turn, it began to tip onto its side. Due to the redundant gun decks, all open for the showy parade, it filled with water extremely fast, and sunk, standing straight, Swedish flags flying from its masts until it was completely submerged.
Right; this is boring, so why am I telling you all this history crap? Hundreds of years later, the Vasa was brought back out of its tomb in the Stockholm harbor by researchers who were riveted by the story of its remarkable disappearance. With much care and many boats, the Vasa was resurrected from the sea in the 1950s, almost entirely preserved. This is because of the Baltic Sea's negligible salinity; it is more like freshwater, whereas briny water would have rotted the boat more. Because the boat was so perfectly preserved, it gives visitors insight into life in the 1600s.
It's really pretty cool.
We stayed there for about an hour and a half, and we would have stayed longer if the museum hadn't closed. After that, we walked for a while, bought some ice cream and food at a little store and we all had ice cream bars. Then we walked to the subway, rode it to our station (Gardet). Dad and I decided to exit the subway a different way than usual, but we ended up getting really lost and walking a lot more than everyone else. When we got to the hotel, we napped and stuff for a while, and Alec came to the hotel, which we realized when he poked into our room with Dad and asked if "our future Nobel prize winner" was here. (I assume he meant Collin, due to his scientific prowess)
We got up and got ready for dinner and then we all went down to the lobby. We decided to eat at this pizza place at the bottom of the hotel, but Dad and Alec and Mom wanted to go out to eat in Stockholm, so they went after they had ordered us three pizzas to go.
When the pizza was done, we took it up to our room, and, while we were watching T.V., cut them with spoons and ate them. They were kind of gross and salty, but we finished them off and watched T.V. until the adults got home, I think. Then we went to bed.