Random, Unless You Think Like Me

So I realize that I have not blogged in forever. But it is crazy how busy I am. And with that lame, over-used excuse out of the way, I will continue.

Today, I am going to just let you get to know my random side. Here are 6 random, not well-known things about me...and some commentary that I just can't hold back.

1. I like to brown hamburger meat. Not sure why...maybe it's that I am a perfectionist, and I like making sure all the formerly pink meat turns brown. It definitely isn't the smell. I like to eat hamburger meat, but I almost don't want to eat it after having smelled it while it cooks. It smells so unappetizing.

2. I am finally (just now) learning how to type the right way. Though I want to know who decided what the right way is. For as long as I have used a computer keyboard, I have typed with just my pointer fingers. I could actually go pretty fast that way. But now, I am learning how to actually type, and it's making writing this much easier, even though my pinkies are still pretty obstinate about moving where they are supposed to.

3. I have three friends that know everything about me. I guess you could call them best friends. They know every second of my life, but in different intervals. Anna Krezdorn hears a play by play of my entire life when I call her. (Only about once a week, because her schedule is so packed.) Kris Towers gets a text directly after school describing all the events that happened that day. But Melissa Moore, because she has a cell phone, is lucky enough to hear every single thing as it is happening. Of course, though, not during school. :)

4. I like almost every type of music--but country. I detest country. As Anna would say, "it makes my ears bleed." Note though, that when I say country, I mean the horrible genre that America is calling (wrongfully) country. Country is Johhny Cash and Hank Williams. Not Shania Twain and Rascal Flatts. That music makes me gag.

5. Something that really bugs me is illogical people. When they are doing something ridiculous and you point out the stupidity of what they are doing and they argue with you. It doesn't matter how many reasonable, logical proofs you have, nor how many educated, brilliant people you drag into the discussion. The IP's always believe they are right. This annoys me to no end, and I cannot let it go. I get into arguments constantly, and you can bet it's because the person I am arguing with was being illogical.

6. The last random thing about me is this: When I get excited, I am not one to hold back my emotions. I try, because, you know, who really wants to look like an idiot? But if I discover you like the same band, or watch the same tv show, or read the same kind of books as I do, I will probably flip out. I just get so psyched at knowing that someone else likes "Sleeping at Last," or "Lost," or "Pendragon." So, sorry if I ever freak out at knowing that you and I have common interests--I just get excited.

Yesterday, I found something out about myself. If I am not good at something, but I do one good thing in it and someone notices, I try a lot harder. And I sometimes get better. Two instances come to mind when I say this. A couple of months ago, Blake (our youth pastor) did this thing on Wednesday nights called "Hyperlinc." We played games for almost two hours once a week. I loved it. One of the nights, we played Capture the Flag. I love this game, but I have never been particularly good at it. We played three rounds and as we got to the second round, it was tied. The opposite team then decided that the teams were unfair, and insisted that we give them a player. Again I will say this--the teams were tied. So Blake had a discussion with them of who they wanted. I don't know why, it could have been a serious mental breakdown on their part, but they chose me. I wasn't terrible...but I definitely wasn't great. The team that I switched to dominated. I want it to be clear when I say this that if I sound a little cocky...let me be cocky. I was so not expecting this. I captured almost every single one of the other team's players and put them in jail. I would not have done nearly so well if they hadn't chosen me. It boosted my opinion of myself. Yesterday, we played soccer in P. E. I am not so great at soccer. And by not so great, I mean seriously. Not so great. I was playing defense, and apparently it was obvious I wasn't good, because everyone on the opposite team tried to kick it to my side, because I couldn't stop them. Brian Conner was on the other team, and he had also been playing defense. (For those of you who don't know, Brian is very athletic. Very.) He switched near the end of the game and brought the ball to my area. I came up to him, and completely on accident, I kicked the ball away from him. The next time he took it to my area, he said, in all seriousness, "Please don't kick it, Emily!" Like I could actually do that if I was trying. I very rarely make any contact with the soccer ball. After that, I was on fire. For me. I tried like crazy. I actually had an assist, and I was so excited. I wasn't much better, but I tried, and I enjoyed it. I guess what I can conclude from this is that I like praise. A whole lot.

The song today is Thief in the Night by Leeland.
"Great is Your love and Your faithfulness, it's Your faithfulness that carries me. Many times I've run away, forsook Your love and all Your grace; still You call out my name. Yeah, You still care that I be saved. So I'll sing the glories of Your name, Your awesomness I will proclaim until You come. Until You come and take Your bride away like a thief in the night, You'll take us away."

I noticed I've been slack lately...but it is ridiculous how busy I have been.

Friday, my friends and I went to downtown Greenville for my birthday. It was me, Mama, Daddy, Bomb (also known as Anna Krezdorn), and Miss Lissa (Melissa Moore). I seriously believe I had more fun that day than I ever have before. We went to the Mellow Mushroom first and had pizza. The pizza was good, but what really began a good day was the fact that our waiter looked like Dwight Schrute from the Office. Lissa noticed it first, and after that, every one of us (including Mama and Daddy) had a hard time taking him seriously.
After the Mellow Mushroom, we were all too full to eat anything else, so we decided to walk around. It doesn't sound very exciting, but Bomb, Lissa, and I can make anything fun. We had this system where we would rotate every so often so that each person got a chance to walk in between the other two and hear all of the conversation. For those of you that don't know, there are a whole lot of statues of random people in downtown Greenville. We mimicked every single statue. The best one had to have been a statue in progress that was of three people, so we each had our own position. Not to mention stomping on grass that was "In Rehabilitation" and was "Not to be Stepped On." Or jumping on the bridge to make it bounce and seeing who could spit the farthest off the said bridge. (Bomb won every time.) We finally made it to the Mast General Store, where we had to curb our awesomness for a while so we wouldn't scare innocent shoppers. We drooled over knives (very very sharp knives) and laughed at dumb advertising gimmicks. (There was a chapstick that had pictures of people kissing strawberries and lemons.) We got in the way a lot, too. The bathroom at Mast General Store has just enough room for half of one person. All three of us went-twice. We bought some candy after much serious thought and headed out again. After more rotating and mimicking of statues, we arrived at Spill the Beans where we got crunch frappucinos and tried to ignore our still-full stomachs. Daddy went to pick up the car so he could drive by and we could hop in. We waited until we saw a car that looked like ours...and waved like crazy. We couldn't figure out why he was passing us until we realized it wasn't him. We got a lot of funny looks from the passengers in the car though.
That night we didn't get much sleep...but we did get some. After having watched the Office and eaten almost all the candy and snuck back down for a dozen trips to the bathroom, we got extremely cold. (Note: the fans were on upstairs. That is why it was so cold. There were also extra blankets upstairs. But hours of the Office make you a little devoid of common sense.) So, being so cold, we decided to try sleep side by side in one twin bed. No blankets. All that happened was that we elbowed each other in the eyes and tried to push Lissa off the bed, but we actually got a couple hours of sleep like that. That is, until Lissa got sick of being half-off the bed and moved to the other bed.

The song today is Sweet Sixteen by The Lilies and the Sparrows
"The whole world screams, begging, "Where can we find hope?" They're on their knees, overflowing with disease. They're reaching out and we're drawing back, saying, "Don't expose me to that."

Co-op...and an awesome song

For those of you who don't know, I am homeschooled, but twice a week, I go to the gym of Fairview Baptist Church for a thing called co-op. It' s a group of homeschool familes who get together and learn. My mom is excellent at english, so she is teaching an American Lit class, but she isn't so great at math or science, so other moms are teaching those subjects. I go on Mondays and Thursdays, and I take Algebra 1, Biology, American Lit, PE, and Chorus. I love my co-op. We are like a big family...even though there are some people I would rather not be related to. *ahem, Daniel Parris* Just kidding! Like I said, we're a family, and we annoy each other with our fair share.

Yesterday was co-op day. (Since it was Monday.) Yesterday, Blake came to lunch. I was amazed at the number of kids who asked me (and asked him) if he was a student. It just further proves that he doesn't look his age. After lunch, I have P.E. In general, P.E. isn't terrible, but it was yesterday. We played volleyball. I absolutely cannot stand volleyball. Soccer is fine, and I love ultimate frisbee, and basketball...? The best. But volleyball is terrible. I always plan to hit the ball when it comes to me. (Really, I do.) But then it actually gets there and I involuntarily step back. Every time. It is impossible to count the number of times my friend Josh (also known as Josh the Beast) saved me in volleyball yesterday. No one else would get it, because I looked like I was going to hit it. Josh and I knew better. It got to be where every single time the ball came for me, no matter where the Beast was on the court, he would run up and save me. So, thanks, Josh. Thanks.

I know this has nothing to do with co-op, but I just bought an awesome song a few days ago, and I wanted to share part of it. I may end up doing this a lot. I have a song for everything.

"You head on down to the bottom of the river just to wash away all the pain of today and yesterday. But lift your head and look across the water and then you'll see all of us together singing, 'Darlin, grab a hand. We won't let you go. Darlin, grab a hand. We promise not to let you stand alone.' So stand close to me. Don't sail away, baby. Let them see your heart, let them see how beautiful you are. You're like nobody else." -You Cry a Tear to Start a River by Between the Trees

My Untitled Book

When I grow up, I want to be an author. I love to write. I'm pretty picky about what I like to write, though. Essays? Sure. Research reports? Okay. Free writing? Even better. But a newspaper article? Absolutely not. I'm not sure why I can't stand it. Maybe because I like to have my little bit of creativity. I don't want to be pressured into writing something I don 't agree with. I like to speak my mind.
At the moment, I am writing a book. I'm actually writing two books, but only one is progressing the way I like. I have plenty of ideas, though. Sometime in the future, I hope to have finished the two books I am writing (a fantasy and a children's fiction) and to have written a historical fiction novel about my great-grandma and a murder mystery. (Very loosely based on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.) Right now, my fantasy novel is going pretty well. Only one person has read all that has been written, and that is Mr. Lance Owens. I wouldn't want anyone else to read it. I want my friends to read a published copy and be genuinely surprised about what happens. (Even my mom hasn't read it yet.) To be honest, I haven't even given it a title. I've been too busy being concerned about the inside.
My one wish for the book is that people will read it. I would rather not have it published than have it be a book that bookstores put in the "half-off" bin because no one will buy it. Imagine having written a book that you spent years on. (I will have been writing this book for two years this October.) Then imagine walking into a Barnes and Noble to get some books you need for your British Literature class and seeing your book, that you put so much of yourself into, in that cursed bin. How would you feel?
Anyway, I can always count on my family to read it. I don't have to be a millionaire like J. K. Rowling to know I have written a good book.
Since this is all about books and writing...what is your favorite book? What made it so special?

Lenny

Yesterday, for my birthday, my dad and I went to El Mariachi (the best Mexican restaurant ever) for lunch. Afterwards, we went to Petsmart. This guy (who apparently is the current Petsmart rodent expert) helped us. His name was Garry. I'm not sure how that information is relevant...but there you go. Garry helped me and my dad pick out a guinea pig. He is russet orange with two white splotches-one between his eyes and the other on his side. (Not to mention the adorable little white paws he has!!) I've always laughed at people who own guinea pigs (take, for instance, Ryan Johnson,) because they aren't really pets. They are rodents. But...this guinea pig is adorable. I named him Lenny. Lenny Guinea. Lenny started off being pretty scared of us. He liked me and Mama...and that was it. Buddy was especially frightening. I guess when a big, furry nose is stuck in your face it may startle you a little. Anyway, Lenny survived his first meeting with Buddy, and had a good night's rest. Today, after co-op, I decided to do my grammar on my bed...while holding Lenny. Lenny has changed drastically over the one day we have had him. He has gone from utter fright to complete curiosity. (And stubbornness when he is not allowed to go somewhere.) He climbed all over my bed and succeeded in almost falling down behind the bars and killing himself. I thought if he was going to roam, it was best if he do it where he could not fall off something and break his neck. So I sat down against my bed and put him on the floor. While I was still watching him, (in 3 seconds flat), he crawled completely under my bed. I spent the next ten minutes pulling boxes out and trying not to squish him. Finally, I spotted him stuck underneath two stuffed animals. I snatched him up (he struggled violently) and proceeded to tell him exactly how long he would have to stay in his cage if he did that again. He just made those cute snuffling noises that he just started making today. Tomorrow we should be going to get him a plastic ball to play in; I just hope he can stay still until then.

An Odd Way to Start

I decided this past weekend to start blogging. I have a lot of friends who live in another state, and it seemed like a good way to let them know what's going on in my life. I feel the need to add that my friends live in another American state. Not a state of mind. That's some of my other friends.

I guess I should also say that I didn't come up with the idea of blogging by myself. I stole Tad Roberts' idea. Sorry! I hope I am more original when it comes to writing it.

I'm sorry if you can't follow what I'm saying. My mind likes to interject a commentary while I'm speaking. It can be interesting, though...if you can understand it.

I guess I will not be original...because I really want to use bullet points. Sorry, Daddy!!

• My birthday is tomorrow. And I have wasted no time in telling everyone I have seen this week that it is. If any one of those people like to talk as much as I do, everyone in the world should know by now. So I'm expecting birthday cards from a whole lot of people.
• I have hidden my family's portable DVD player in my room and I am getting a ton of use out of it. First Lost, (the most amazing show ever,) and now The Office. I now have this thing for Dwight. He is undeniably my favorite.
• My mama is doing an excellent job teaching my American Lit class at co-op. She makes it fun enough to where we don't think of it as homework. I guess it's...funwork??
• I have a twin. Not an evil twin...as far as anyone knows. She actually doesn't even have my last name. Actually...she's not even related. But she might as well be. At the moment, (and I know this because she just told me,) she is laying on the beach at Rodanthie, NC. My little sister says I am going through "twinitis," which she says is missing your twin when she is at the beach even on days when you would not have gotten to see her anyway.

-I just started...so I'm sure no one will be reading this anytime soon...but when you do...what is (or was) your favorite class in school? Was it because of the teacher? Or the subject?