It is important to be yourself, but, more important to be yourself proudly.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

An Ode to Team Fortress 2

Uh...TF2?  You were working yesterday...
and all of last week
though now you quit
while to game, I seek
not on the xBox or fancy Wii
I just want to play on my PC
but the game keeps on crashing
I'm lacking some script
there is no bright flashing
my screen's like a crypt
"Oh, Team Fortress 2!"
I worry and shout
"Is there nothing you can do
to help a girl out?"
And so I sit staring
at my blue screen
with only Facebook and blogging and such
and I know it sound mean
but, guys, the game it isn't a crutch
I just want to play
my eyes all a-gleam
so much for today
thanks SO MUCH, Steam

Monday, October 8, 2012

People are Strange

     I am dead-set on becoming a librarian right now.

Right now, in a world where books made of paper are starting to slowly disappear.

In a world where the only places I really feel at home are having shorter


and shorter

and shorter
hours.

      I want to be the person smiling behind the counter who knows what's in the back room.  I want to be the person who makes sure the covers aren't falling off of books, the person who barcodes all of the fiction works in a matter of weeks(until I worry my hands will fall apart from the copy/pasting).


     I want it so bad.  So terribly bad.  I may never get to have it.  

     Books are disappearing because it is more eco-friendly, easier to carry and easier to purchase novels and typed literature on kindles and eReaders and iPads.  Does nobody care for the scent of a book anymore?  I have nothing excessive against this, but I can't help but feel a bit hurt.  

     A bullied kid on the playground would get beat up for an iPad, but a book?  The little demons find no value in a book.  Trust me.  

     I feel like technology is leaving me behind.  My media is out-of-date.  I should watch the news, or read it online.  I should already have some fancy reading machine.  I should have Marty's hover-board from Back To The Future 2 (okay, the last one's wishful thinking).  

      I still like the newspaper, I am enamored with the ever-shrinking funny pages. I love my books, and have re-bound a few, myself. I really do want the hover-board, though.  

      Last year, I worked in the library after class almost every day.  It was amazing.  I have been working the library this year, too.  I have been teaching the Freshmen how to handle the front desk, how to check books in and out and how it makes life easier to alphabetize the books on the cart before you put them back on the shelves.  

     I found my dream job, the only problem is, it looks like it might be gone by the time I'm able to have it.  

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Camping, Goo-Monsters, The Mess and Weird Summer Nostalgia

     First, Camping!  I happen to have a family and large "village" of people who camp, dirtbike, surf, skateboard, be musical, be strange and be there. I went camping for a week with said group of people.  This is where I finished Lamentaion (which I found to be a very worthy endeavor.)

     AG, what did you do on this trip you adventuresome and daring adventurer?


Well, since you asked so kindly...


Most of what I did was read and jump off of rocks.


But, I also

Caught a frog,
Called a river a lake,
Ate S'mores,
Geeked out with my cousin-person,
Took illegal(ish) river showers,
Celebrated my Aunt and Uncle's Anniversary,
Played 'Catchphrase' for the first time,
AND
Last, but definitely not least,
I got to spend time with some of my favorite people. Ever. *

     Something I think Hyperspace would want me to mention is that he has full permit and is close to being able to drive to were I am. This will be a big improvement from our current approxiamtely-once-every-three-months arrangement. I have a standing offer with Addyday for driving lessons in the college parking lot.   



     There is a new Goo Monster in my part of Cali. She is the daughter of the sister of Blondie. Which makes me sort of an Aunt, I guess. She is loud and smelly and has adorable toes. She also has the same largeish head that both of her parents had as Goo Monster/Very  VERY small people. 
     The Mess is nearly clean. Which is nothing short of miraculous. It only took me two months. (NOTE: the sarcasm)
     My summer is nearly over, but I hope to get my summer homework done and at LEAST 






spend at least one more day at the beach. 









*Ammamay is more for "outdoorsing". I don't mind tents.


Love You, Stranger,

AG

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Dollar Tree, Lamentation and Pork Skins


Have you heard of the Dollar Tree?

It's a store where EVERYTHING inside is a dollar.
  That makes it a very useful place for people like me who happen to not have a very large amount of spending money. 
On a recent trip to this wondrous place I made two very important purchases. 

1)Pork Skins
and
2)Lamentation
Ok. so, why would pork skins be an important purchase?
     Porks skins are something I have wanted to try for about two years.  It has taken two years because I was very wary about buying them.  The most common argument against being “what if I don’t like the snacky foodstuffs contained in this bag? what if it tastes terrible?

     The Truth, which I find not hard to admit whatsoever - is that I absolutely, unashamedly, through-and-through find pork skins to be disgusting.  That is one dollar I am never getting back.  


I regret nothing.  
  The other VIP I am talking about is a book.  It is by Ken Scholes.  The advance praise on the cover is from Orson Scott Card!  To those of you familiar with the iconic science fiction work Ender’s Game, that’s a pretty big deal.  

  So, I’m sifting through these books and none of them look particularly interesting for a light read.  There’s some political books, about a bajillion romance/detective books, a book on natural aphrodisiacs and a few “self-help” books.  

     When my friend who was just about through with being checked out pointed out Lamentation “This one looks a bit interesting” and walked out the door.  

This one looks a bit interesting, indeed

I pick up the book, complete my purchase and after consuming five-and-a-half pork skins, dumping the rest, making my way home and finding a nice soft spot to read, I’m hooked.  

One thing before I go- I have a habit of finding mistakes in published works.  Not out of spite, but because I like details.  
On page 71 of Lamentation Lady Jin Li Tam has “Piercing blue eyes”, but on page 121 her eyes are “blazing green”. 
-AG

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I have been busy...

...and so, I haven't had a chance to write as often as I like.  Finals came and went, along with several birthdays.  I have dabbled in vlogging a little bit, y'know, to test the waters.   I didn't do as well in school as I normally do, but I'd rather not go through the terrifying experience of reliving THAT.  Let's just say I'm retaking history this summer and I'll be glad when I'm done with that.  There's been some movies I'd like to review and books I'd like to recommend.  I'm not sure when I will update next, but I hope to do so soon.

-AG

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Oh, Ruby, you shall have greatness...

...not that you really want it, my dear child with eyes that flame strange colors and an immeasruable sense of justice.


I got these questions off of my friend Nitz's blog*



1.) How do you feel about Ruby Nation thus far?

     I am really enjoying it, thank-you for asking.  I know that Ruby didn't do any brain-washy-stuff, so I am kind of curious to find out how THAT happened.(PTSD, anyone?)

2.) How do you feel about the ending of Chapter 2?

     Oh. Oh hey. Still curious about the amnesia stuff.  I really hope Elise is ok, 'cause those Apex people don't look really nice.  I am very interested to hear what happened to her as she was with them, because we know her way-back-story, but not any of the more recent stuff.

3.) How do you feel about the existence of the Ruby Nation Wiki/About Page?

     Oh, you vain, silly man.  I like your wiki(even the "NEW, EGOTISTICAL WIKI ENTRY").  I have found it to be a very handy reference guide.

4.) Do you have a favorite character so far? Why?

I still have a silly fan-crush on Jiro(Hyperspace, if you read this, be glad, all of your competition are fictional men who are notavailableanywaysoyeah) but I would prefer to be a girl-Jiro than date the guy-Jiro.  Maybe be a twin sister or something with all the same powers(I already have a lot of similarities defect-wise along with a lot of the personality "ups").  Ok, enough obsessing.  I also really like Alexis, but I liked her in Ruby's World.  She hasn't really been around as much here, yet, but I'm really looking forward to that.

5.) Do you have a least favorite character? Why?

Ratel.  She scares me more than Moray.  I guess that would make her more of a "most scary" rather than "least favourite".  I don't really know how else to answer that question.

6.) What would you like to see in the coming strips?

I want to see Elise's more recent history before the rescue.  I also want to see her smart her way out of this to prove that kindness and compassion do not equal stupidity or compliance(rar, Moray, I will wreck you like that guy who stole my pudding cup).

*Found here: Handi-CAPEable  

The first Book in Nitz's series.  Begin here, new readers. 

The Sequel to Ruby's World and the topic of this post. 

-AG

The Fair Mk 2

Ok.

Remember the Gravitron?
Remember Lover Boy(now on known as Hyperspace)?

     Welp, he managed to get me onto the ride.  This may or may not have involved dragging me bodily through the gate(it did).  After half-frog-marching-half-carrying-me onto the ride, I actually enjoyed the ride.  It was after the ride that was a problem.

     You see, low blood pressure runs in my family*.  I happen to be affected by this.

     Riding the Gravitron made all of the blood(or at least more than the usual amount) rush to my head.  While the ride was going everything was SUPERB.  After it stopped, the world around me started losing color and I was having problems with that "standing up" thing you people tend to treat so casually.

Lying on my back for about a minute-and-a-half** cleared my head, though, so no real complaints.  I'd do it again, but only if I was absultely sure I was not dehydrated***, because I think I might have been teetering.  My tendancy to forget to be thirsty makes this even harder.  YAY!


     So, I avoided passing out, and got a kiss out of it, too.  For my bravery. Or something like that.

Love,
AG

*Despite sounding very much like a bad thing(which it can be), it has perks, like salt. SALT, SALT EVERYWHERE!

**don't take my word for it, I'm terrible with telling time.

***I'm also Chronically Dehydrated. I would prefer the term "hydrophobic", but that makes me sound like a lipid, which I am not.  I think.

Friday, April 27, 2012

The Fair

     Call me sentimental.
     Call me insane.
     The fair is magic.

     Yup.  Magic.

     OK, I'm not a stark-raving looney(kind of).  It's just that the fair is different from the rest of the year.  It doesn't take place in "normal-time", it takes place in the same weird, alternate-reality that houses Halloween.  That place where kids have freedom to just run around, junk food is not just allowed, but mandatory and enemies declare(temporary) truces.
     For one weekend of the year, every year, everyone is friends.  For the parents - there's nostalgia, for the kids - a world of light and wonder, the teens get a chance to live in a place of their own, a domain that is solely based on their decisions.  It's sort of like real-life, except someone else is paying your bills for you and there's no mortgage.  The really neat part is that the normal rules of engagement don't seem to apply in this other-world.
     Under the stars, gaudy lights and too-loud sounds of the music, games and crowds, everyone is equal.  You can be a kid.  You can run around, tell stupid jokes, and basically act four or six or eight as a middle-schooler or high-schooler.  Balloon-animals, "sword fights", ice cream, tag, hide-and-go-seek-tag*.  Parents lose a lot of the "serious, parental attitudes" and laughter is everywhere.  Seriously. 

I'm not making this up.

      We live in a fairly average sized city and that part which we inhabit is fairly small.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't some small-town, my high school has enough humans for the Census Bureau to gain us the title of "Small Town"






































 Anyway, when you're my age, the people at the fair are the people you've spent your whole life with(although you may not know them super-well).  You pass these people on your bike, that group you've known since pre-school, those guys are your buds and you've been saying, "Hey" to that person at the baseball field since before your brother stopped using a tee.
     So, in order to break grudges, break normalcy and basically break the whole fair down to one component, I have come to the conclusion that the fair is magic.  It's not perfect, but it's not perfect in the most perfect way possible.  You know Sandlot?  The fair is a lot like the Fourth of July in Sandlot, minus the fireworks.  It feels like something is going to happen, something unusual.  The anticipation and possibility mix with the sickly-sweet cotton-candy and adrenaline from the Gravitron**.
     I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting weekend.
 -AG

 *like tag, only hide-ier and seek-ier.  And cooler, that too.
**I'm still too chicken for this ride.  Oh so very chicken.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Love vs. Money

Being loved is a lot like receiving a savings account, they're both gifts that keep giving. And, hopefully, give more as time progresses. Also - every time *you* give more, you get more back. One main difference is, you are able to take all your money out of the account and you can't do that with love. But, the most important difference? When the economy goes to Hades and work is hard to find, while your savings account withers and dies, *true* love is a refuge - it is a safe place, that, even in the worst economic climate - still gives.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

A Grand New...

     ...Forum!  
One of my good friends has made a forum.  It's a new, budding site and needs members.  Knowing your memes always helps.  It has rules, mostly to ensure that everyone stays civil.  There's a nice debate section that probably needs some attention.
     The atmosphere is very chill, on the top it says, "A website for free thinkers".  This forum is known as:
stop start forward back
It can be found if you follow this nice, shiny link.  
     
      I urge anyone to check it out, thanks.
Yours,
AG.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

My Family is Made of Word Salad

So I was making a glass of lemonade.
Jax was passing through near the kitchen and so I sought a second opinion.
"Hey, Jax!  Tell me what you think of this!"
 "I don't think." is his genius reply.
"Ok, How about you tell me how it tastes?" I implore.
A shrug, "OK."
He takes the lemonade from me and proceeds to...
...suck on the chopstick I was using to stir it with....
?
"Jax, that's not...a...straw..."I manage through my laughter "...that's...that's a.....chopstick!"
 I double over, spewing laughter.

So, I walk into the room where Ammamay's sitting on the couch.
"Momma, Jax sucked on my chopstick."
I can barely stifle my giggles.
She looks up at me, completely straight-faced, and asks me, "What was it doing on the floor?"


It's moments like this that make life worth living, isn't it?

Yours,
AG

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Top O' the Mornin'

     Well, as the flag hanging out in front of the porch of The Homestead so boldly pronounces to the world, I am "LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE IRISH".  That's right, folks! AG, the crazed Italian chick posting all over the interwebs, is also Irish
     So, St. Patty's Day has always been a bit of a big deal 'round these parts.  You go to bed in Green Clothing the night before, unless you'd like to be awakened(quite rudely, shall I add) by a pinch.  Green through the day and Green when you go to bed that night.
     I went to bed with a green shirt on and some red sock-monkey(think Nick&Nora*) PJ's(the monkeys have green scarves).   I stumble out of my room and slump onto the couch next to Emboo.  I'm still not quite awake yet.  She leans over** and pinches me

No joke.
She pinched me.  
      This.
               Means.
                          WAR.

     I pinch back.
....and get a very startled look from her "oh-so-innocent" face.  Her head whips back to shoot a questioning look at Jax.  "She's wearing green, Emboo."
"No, she's not," comes the "victim"
"Yes, she is," I return, holding out my shirt for inspection.   It turns out that it actually is green.
     Nami was even wearing a kelly green bow and bright green socks.***

Ok, enough of this.
To Business.
To FOOD.
To this.

      It is Shepherd's Pie and it is delicious.  We substituted corn for the peas(they were gonna make me go out and buy peas.  In the rain.  Besides, I secretly wanted to use the corn in it.  I love corn. MWAHAHAHAHAAA.)
     The irony of the situation is, we had to eat this as a substitute to Corned Beef and Cabbage due to corned beef and cabbage being too expensive.  You may not know this, but Corned Beef and Cabbage started out as a luxury, but Irish consumption in the USA shot through the roof.  Because it was cheaper here.  Psha!
       Also, to breakfast!  Ammamay made bacon and eggs and hashed-brown potatoes with onions.  YUM~!
     After a long, lovely day, we watched THOR.  *ADJUSTS GLASSES* I'm more of a DC girl, myself, but I can honestly say that I liked it, Marvel and all.****
Happy St. Patty's day and may the Luck of the Irish be with you and yours.

*It has a jacket, which I had worn over my green shirt(although, it had green in it and wasn't exactly blocking my solid-green t-shirt)

**She's all decked out, man.  She's got a Green necklace(with shamrocks on it), an "Irish"(think "Leprechaun and Pot O' Gold") pony-tailor, an all-green shirt and Green-and-Black "Got Luck?" socks.

*** Thanks to Emboo.

****Spiderman, Iron Man and X-Men are my secret, secret exceptions for Marvel.  Ssshhhh!

Monday, March 12, 2012

AAAAAND now, more on Radios!(Right after this quick* Commercial Break.)

      I guess I have a bit of an unnatural love for my radios.  They are my "babies".  I guess I have this thing about music(free music, all the moreso!).  I have grown up with a radio.  I have developed some weird music tastes/preferences due to this.

For Instance;
     I like the "crunch" that you hear in FM radio.  I think it makes some songs sound better than if the band were playing the song right in front of me. This is not normal.  

     So, basically, little things like that influence my taste in music, advertisements, basically anything auditory.  I LOVE my radio, it is my pride and joy.  You might even be able to say that is was my friend growing up.  Some of my fondest memories revolve around radios.

     To me, music is necessary.  I need it to calm down sometimes.
Being an Aspie** has a lot of ups and down,  Just like being an NT***.   My ups and downs are a little bit different, though.  When I am overwhelmed, thinking becomes a bit of a problem for me.  When I am like that-too sad/mad/over-stimulated/sensory-deeprived, music helps to sooth me and to make me feel better.

And so, my radios are very prized possessions for me.

I have two radios.
One is a clock-radio that I keep nex to my bed.  The face of it glows, it glows so brightly that it would keep me awake if I didn't face it down every night, although there is a downside to doing that.  It is scratched, a mega-super-number-marring-scratch is on the face and lots of little scratches make it look almost like it's dirty!

     My other radio is portable and from the '70's.  My Gramma**** bought it from Radio Shack for around $7.00 and if it wasn't used it would be worth about five times that much***** on popular auction sites, but
I don't plan on selling it any time soon.  It is red and is supposed to be for emergencies. 
Like when the power goes out.******
Or I am DEAD BORED after class gets let out.
Or...or....or...
...well, I think you get the picture.
     I take very good care of them both(except when I'm sleeping, unfortunately).  I know most of my generation are all hopped up on iPods and stuff, but I'd take a good book and a good music station and be happy for about an eternity or two.

Love,
AG








*LIES!(those breaks feel like they take hours, ugh)
**Aspie=person with Asperger's
***NT=neurotypical/relatively normal person
****Gramma=Ammamay's Mom
*****last time I checked, it was 36 or 37 dollars.
******There will one day be a post about this.  I swear it!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

My Room, or, alternately- That Big Mess Downtairs

     Although the second title is misleading and could be referring to me/myself, the refrigerator, the state of THE Couch, the state of The Kitchen, the DVR line-up, yadda, yadda, yadda. 
http://shirtoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/I-have-issues.jpg
See?
     I have a small bit of trouble* keeping my room in good order.  Part of this is my lack of a proper place for things, as I tend to disregard places that other people pick out, or the places I pick are simply too small.  I absolutely adore a tidy living space, but, unfortunately, have issues keeping one up.
  I like for things to be in the proper order, I like to have everything tucked in securely where it belongs.  Also, I enjoy using italics!


     If I'm that much of a neat freak on the inside, how come it's so hard for me to keep up my room properly?
     I spend hours organizing things at the library, whereas my books sit in untidy piles on the ground.  Sad, depressing, "why me?" piles that ensure either the loss of the book, or overlooking of said book whenever it is needed.  The only upside I can see is that the books stay in relatively good condition, so long as The Sibs stay out of my room.
    



http://www.dominicwilcox.com/images/bed/bed2.jpg
My Bed





           





Was




http://ysostorytime.pbworks.com/f/Bed.bmp
...Moved















      Okay, my bed isn't shaped like that, nor is it facing that silly direction.  My bed has been moved so that my head points toward the wall that houses the window that faces the porch, and my feet point toward my closet.  This was to make room for a series of cubbies that now reside where my headboard used to.  It is situated against the wall so that my bed and the wall keep this table-thing flat, this is where I store my clock-radio that is also an alarm.
  
 More on my love of radios later, though.
Good day to you and all,
AG

 *YES MOM, A SMALL BIT OF TROUBLE.

Salutations!

Salutations!

I *sniff* spent *sniff* Valentine's Day...alone.  Well, relatively alone.  You see - it was a school day, but I meant "alone" as in "sans Lol-y Boy", capisci?


     That is one of the unfortunate consequences in a long-distance relationship of neither involved party being able to get a ride or  get a license*.  I haven't even begun learning how to drive.  Can you say "stupid AG, what are you thinking?"
      Not that it's stupid to spend Valentine's Day alone, or that it's stupid to not know how to drive.  It's stupid for me  to not know how to drive because-
          a)I have younger siblings
          b)It's a long way to where my lover-boy lives
          c)I have to get to school early(very very early)in the morning
          d)It would help my parents like air helps paint dry. It can be done by other gasses, but it is much more convenient with air.


     See, only one of those was excessively selfish!


     I have started to pull my grades up(Thank goo'ness for the second semester!) so I will probably pick back up on my posting(yay!).  Since I mysteriously disappeared I have rearranged my room, caught up in school**, had a date, had a sleepover***, saw a play(that may have been before, actually), and had several brilliant ideas and exciting(ish) adventures(sort of).
More soon,
AG
*.....yet. <cue evil laughter>
**Yay! YAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAAYYYYYY!
***With Blondie.  HEADS. OUT. OF. THA. GUTTER. PEOPLE.
PS-Several of my brilliant ideas were ideas for posts.  Which I wrote down. So that I would remember. *pats self on back*

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I am so proud of myself....

....wait, is that conceited?

Oh well, I'm too happy about this to mind.



I write like
Cory Doctorow
I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!
         ^what I'm so happy about^



Yeah, this is another random musing post.
I hope everyone had an amazing week.  I had finals, so....well, more on that later.
Ciao,
AG

Monday, January 23, 2012

Why Must They Grow So Quickly?

Emboo is officially twelve. <insert insanity here>
     Ok...not insanity, more like "insane older sister sentimentality", but "sentimentality" is such a long  word.

     Her birthday was Saturday.  Her party Started on Friday and Ended on Saturday and The Homestead became Occupied Territory.  The Rebel Leader(AKA Emboo) and her Accomplices(AKA her friends)took over Base(AKA The Homestead) where it became Occupied Territory(AKA Party Central(sort of)).  


     There was giggles and laughter and running around in general.  There was also ice cream.


Please remind me whose idea it was to give these girls sugar?

     They played Sardines* and people kept getting lost.
    Also I got flan!  Yum!

     Jurassic Park 3 was on the television, so that was fun, but we had to change it because it was deemed "frightening".  
      I was the girl who was the Resident Make-Up Artist.  Ammamay and  one of Emboo's friends did hairdos. 
(I actually had a good hair day the next day!  I know, I'm shocked, too!)
*Sardines is a type of tag where one person hides and the group has to go find them, instead of the group hiding and one person finding everyone.


     A side note about Hair-
Specifically-  My Hair.
My Hair hates me.
It is an abhorent frizzy mess.
Usually.
Do any of you know anything about children's detangler?
IT FLIPPING WORKS.
     Humidity makes my problem worse and today it rained.  My hair is shockingly not shocking people.  This is due to my detangler.
/end side note.

     What am I going to do‽ I mean, in only one year there will be three(I repeat three) teenagers running around here, me being the oldest of them.  Not to mention how by the end of this year TRex will be in double digits.
Can't we just slow down?  


Man, I feel old.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Another Introductary Post

     NANNAH!!!!!!!!!-My cousin. She's 15.
Risa-My cousin, Cece's Mouse. She is 18.
      Cece-Risa's Bestie/Monkey. She is also 18.

Sisi-Emboo's Bestie/Cousin. She is 11.
     OOIE- RISA'S BOY FRIEND***    
Blondie and Toto=My Besties. They are 15(Blondie)and 16(Toto)
       Emboo and I are both friends with Mina(13). 
J-Roz(10) and T-Rex are buds.
     Mina and JRoz are my boyfriend's Younger Sibs.
Lol-y Boy(16) is My Mad Scientist/Inventor and my boyfriend.  
     "?" There is also an amazingawesometasticfavoloso girl in the library who does tutoring after school.  She has turned me into a Nerdfighter*!  I've known her for about two days(well, four, but I only saw  her on two of them).  For now she will be known as "The Mysterious Awesome One."

      There is more, I swear, I just wanted to begin a reference sheet of sorts.  I doubt it will stop, though.  There are a lot of people who impact my life.  Including my huge Family.
     Family is important to me.  I have a Nuclear Family, sort of.  Ammamay is a RN, but stays at home, while Addyday** is a Firefighter(ya know, supports the fam).  Our family is a bit large for the traditional Nuclear Family.  
     While the traditional Nuclar Family has two children, a boy and a girl, ours has four(however it does still have the same ratio and balance).
     My extended family-yeesh!-I will introduce quite a few of them, but honestly, I don't even know all of them.


*For those of you who don't know what a Nerdfighter is, check out the Vlog Brothers on YouTube.  They are made of Awesomesauce.
**My dad.
***Written by Risa

Sunday, January 8, 2012

How to Stump a Stubbern Child

 I was one.  I was a very stubbern child.

Now I am very different.

Now I am a very stubbern teenager.

Lovely.

     Anywho, I was thinking, as I often do, about this, that, the-other-thing, and ventalation.  I was also working on an English project and I found a list of questions relationg to the wonderful book by Roald Dahl that is known to the world as, The BFG.      

     One of the questions was, "How does the BFG label his dream jars?"
     My response(my immediate one, at least) would have been,* "With paper."
*(ha!  Actually, this was my immediate reaction)


     Another thing it brought to my mind was the question, "Why does the BFG label his dream jars?"


The answer to the question is easy to find, but the point is that it derailed my train of thought.


Again.


     Now I was thinking about little children and how they incessantly the question, "Why?" 


 I, myslef, have been one of the worst. 

     The proper response to this question from a child, I have found, is to ask them a question in return.


     Answer their questions until you have no more answers or have run out of your Advil, ibuprofin, Tyelnol(yadda, yadda, yadda, [insert brand of pain releiver/headache medicine here]), then return to them a question of your own.


     When you have reached the limits of your answering capabilities, simply ask them , "Why not?"
     Be prepared for a new round of questions on a new subject, or persistence on the other one, but honestly, this has worked.
     I mean, I've used this.  It had become second nature because it worked. I just hadn't stopped to ask myself why it worked.


     My answer to why it works?  Why not?  Why shouldn't it work?  It may not be one-hundred-per-cent, but it's better than nothing and can inspire exploration and curiosity.


This is my random thought for today.


Best Regards
~AG

Friday, January 6, 2012

Why T-Rex Is A Cannoli

#CLEARS THROAT#
This is the story of how T-Rex became a cannoli...


     Ammamay* made Latkes** for breakfast, which ended up causing mayhem amoung all of us young people.  T-rex is worried about trying some new food,  Jax took an extra, effectively stealing Emboo's allotment, which made her get in a frenzy, "MOOOOM, he stole my Latke!  Make him give it back!!!!"(Sheesh! "Now, Mummy, now!" Veruca? Is that really you?)  He ended up giving it back to her, wherein she, in turn, gave it to me. ("It's cold, you have it.  Also, it has sour cream.(she scrunches her face)")  
T-Rex's big, blue eyes grew huge.  "Can I have some, please?"


Hold up.
     ~"Please?"~

He said,  "please"  to me This is serious.




 


      This kid is the pickiest of picky.  I mean plain-out choosey.  He has food he likes, and everything else.  A lot of everything else.  

     This is an Italian kid who won't touch Manicotti or Cannelloni.  He won't even eat Spaghetti if it has red sauce on it.




"Sure," I reply as I cut him a half.  
     "I can have half?"(I think I see tears in his eyes.)
     "Absolutely."

I give him the half with no bite in it, and I think he sort of creates a rift in time and space with his joy.
     "Thank you, AG!"
     And I get an actual, real-live hug from my nine-soon-to-be-ten-year-old brother, the Fourth Grader.  And girls have cooties.  I'm overjoyed(also, I have an entire Latke more then the rest of the sibs, so......      Nah, it's the hug.  Probably.)



     While my picky younger brother returns to his seat, Ammamay and I exchange a glance.  

     "Hey!  A food he actually likes!" from Jax.(snarky li'l Eighth Grader.)
We all laugh.  It's true, though.  It's hard to find a food he likes, much less a new one.***

      "He's a funny one," Ammamay puts in, "He won't try spaghetti and red sauce**!  I bet he'd have no problem if he'd just try it." This last part is said slightly more indignantly.  I mean, come on people, she makes the red stuff herself(with occasional help from Prego****).

      I join in, "He's an Italian who won't go near Ravioli**, Manicotti**, Cannelloni**."
      "And he won't touch anything with garlic!" she adds, "Are we sure he's Italian?"

     "I bet he wouldn't try a Cannoli**."


We pause for a beat.


      I crack a smile, "He is a Cannoli."
My comment puts Ammamay into another fit of laughter.

     "He is!" She says through her giggles.

     The blue-eyed T-Rex looks up at us from his plate.  His eyebrows are furrowed and he is very put-off.

     "Mamma, what's a Cannoli?"

     Nooooo!  I try to plead with my eyes, out loud-
     "Don't tell him!" I'm laughing.

     She doesn't heed me and instead concedes to the weaker party,
"It's an Italian dessert."

     "Oh," he says.  He was placated, but his arms remained crossed and his cheeks hadn't quite returned from red, mostly due to "Italian dessert" not being the answer he suspected.


In the end, a delicious breakfast and a funny story and a new name! Ta-da! 





*(my mother, this is how I refer to her, this side-note is for future reference)
**YUM~ 

***(I'm not giving him any credit here.  He's gotten much better.  Still, it usually feels like you have got to pry his jaws open to get him to try anything that he hasn't already tried.)
**** "Prego!" = "Thank you!" in Italian.


Yeah, I capitalize food.  It's respectful. 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

More About My Cast

It is gone.

Thank God



I am so happy it's gone that I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF!!!!!!!


One problem-My elbow will not unbend all the way nor can bend it all the way in any direction.  I am sad about my arm.  Not much else to be sad about besides my arm.  






Yup.


I believe I promised to tell all of you a story about T Rex?
Yup, I did.
Here is the story of how T-Rex became a cannoli.(See Next Post)

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Life At The Homestead

     I am the oldest of four chilluns(children, to those of you who don't speak "AspieGrrl").  I have two bouncing baby brothers and one lovely little sister.
     Jax comes in at 14 years old and is an all-around athlete, participating in football, baseball and riding.  He likes photography.
     Emboo is 11, plays soccer/football(depending on where you are) and has dabbled in volleyball. She wants to take up surfing again.  She also rides a dirtbike.
     T-Rex(TSquawk) is the youngest in the bunch pulling a whole 9 years on him.  He rides, plays baseball and football and is very partial to processed foods.


     We have a dog, who goes by the name of Nami and she is a lovely black lab who thinks she weighs five pounds.


     She doesn't.

     She is two years old and has enough energy to match her human counter-part(dog years - psha!  She can outrun any 14 year old I know!).  
Common places to find her include-
-My bed
-Emboo's Bed
-Anywhere in the boy's room
-Out back/in the back(The back yard)
-Crying at closed doors
-Out front(with her leash tied to a post.  This is done to ensure that she doesn't chase any weary traveler and scare them to death with her loving, booming barks and doggie kisses.)
-Following anyone who happens to be walking(especially if they also happen to have food)


Speaking of food, I ~LOVE~ food.  I love to cook food, to smell food, to see food.  I love to hear the fresh snap or crunch  of a bell pepper, the sizzle of sautéing garlic, the pop of bacon.  More than all of this I love to eat food.
Because of this, I will remember to post some recipes when I have time, or when I remember the measurments.


PS-Italians love garlic and T-Rex is a cannoli.  I'll explain later, I promise.


Until then-  
Cheers!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  I HAVE GUNPOWDER ON THE BOTTOMS OF MY FEET!

The gunpowder is from stepping on Pop-Its.  I just rang in the new year!  I'm going to have some trouble for the next seven months trying to remember what year we're in.  Eh, oh well.  I'm just going sit back with mah gun-powder feet an' chug mah rootbeer.  I also have a pretty cool hat.

Pretty


Awesome







Hat









These Two are of The Cast From Hell