amylicious!

Maybe I'm a little too obsessive.

February 2008 - Posts

  • Enough with the snow days already!

    Seriously, we have another snow day today. A one- or two-hour delay, I might have been okay with. But a snow day?! It doesn't look like the roads are even that bad! And as far as I know, all we got was snow — not our usual ice. Ugh! At this rate, I'm not going to graduate before June (and definitely not before the country fair), and it's looking like graduation will be held on the football field, not in Rupp Arena. What the crap. Whyyy? Why do they suddenly get so snow day-happy my senior year?! It was nice the first two or so, but now it's just annoying. Bleh!
    You know how, at least in public school (and maybe in private school, I don't really know), they're required to have monthly fire drills, which tend to be really annoying because you never know when to expect them and chances are it's going to be raining or something?

    I can now say that in all my years of public schooling, I actually experienced a real fire, meaning a real fire alarm at school.

    Yeah, yesterday, second hour, Mr. Strohmeier runs in, "We need your fire extinguisher!" Mrs. Minor gets it for him and he's halfway across the room when the fire alarm goes off. There's a very distinct groan as we know it's too late, we actually have to go outside — and Nick informs us that it's raining (as he's just walked in late — and apparently he saw the smoke in the bathroom down the hall as he walked to class). Yes, because some idiot decided to light something on fire in the bathroom, the entire school was forced out of the building into the rain, where we stood for, oh, maybe thirty minutes or so. Then, we were ushered into the gym (which is in another building) and had to sit for around fifteenish minutes before we were allowed to go back to second hour, where we stayed until the bell for fourth hour rang. Yeah, we skipped third hour completely.

    As amusing as it was at first ("Wow! An actual fire!" — we're really not all that fazed by these things, I guess), it simply turned into annoying once we realized we'd be outside for a while.

    What a year to load up on AP classes, right? Five or six snow days and a fire! Wow! What luck. Um.

    Mrs. Minor made light of it, though: "Those private school kids don't get stories like these! You go to college and they'll all be wanting the dirt on public school!"
    Yesterday, after orchestra rehearsal, Michelle and I took the bus (I used LexTran for the first time ever, haha) downtown and then walked to Third Street Stuff, where we consumed delicious food items and wrote a song called "Ollivander and Me." Honestly, it's the cutest song we've written so far, haha. The only thing we need now is a xylophone, because the chorus will not be complete without a cutesy xylophone transition. We're so stoked for our March 10th show (with the Remus Lupins, what!). We just need to get cracking on putting together songs and a set list, because for the few days before the 10th, we'll be in Disney World with our orchestra class, so we'll have no time to put together songs (unless Michelle finds a way to bring her guitar to Disney, haha). Well, we'll get it together. Eventually.
    We had to write a poem recently about something ugly. Of course, I wrote yet another stupid thing involving the internet (an ongoing theme in my english class for me, I guess). I'm not sure if it really qualifies as ugly, but I wrote about Wikipedia's murder of the fanpage (inspired by this post). Maybe you'll enjoy it, haha.

    abandonment:
    Skeet Ulrich, circa 1998,
    not even a trace of frames anymore,
    cast across the floor
    alongside Calvin & Hobbes,
    X-eyes and frayed seams

    starshine backgrounds replaced
    with the most horrific of phrases:
    "Bandwidth Exceeded"

    taken down with the Wiki sword:
    Enchanted Forest, its magic no more
    Television City unplugged and sparkless
    Hollywood set ablaze by its own starburst effects

    no more independence
    only flocking to one place
    the Mecca of fandom
    Wikipedia, the death of individuality
    GeoCities, your pages no more
  • Adventures in College Visiting

    (Warning: I think I use the word "apparently" a little bit too much here. But bear with me, plzkthx.

    And because of my usage of plzkthx, I now am going to overload this post with lolcats. Thank you, I Can Has Cheezburger?!



    Because who doesn't love lolcats?)


    I've kind of unofficially decided that I'm going to Juniata next year for college. I mean, I still am going to wait until I hear from the other five schools I've applied to, and it definitely also depends on if I get the scholarship (pleasepleaseplease), but I kind of adore Juniata now. Really really. :)

    So how was my day yesterday?

    • 9:45 AM: Arrival — William Swigart Enrollment Center



    Crazy. Tons of kids in the Enrollment Center, my dad had to go off and find somewhere to park. There's not a lot of parking right outside their admissions building. And with twenty-four families in there yesterday, yeah. It was pretty crazy. But once more, I felt special the moment I walked in the door because they handed me a folder with a schedule and everything! I had a name tag! And I talked to random people! And then someone escorted me to my first event! Oh man. I felt important. I was important, haha. Or so I like to think.

    • 10:00 AM: Experience the Classroom: The US Since 1877, Professor Jim Tuten — Good Hall, Room 102



    This class helped to cement why I absolutely would adore going to Juniata to study History. Professor Tuten? He was kind of kickass. He made a lot of cracks, namely about NASCAR and Mick Jagger. What kind of sucked is that many of his students definitely didn't laugh or react or anything. Not a lot of kids spoke up! This saddened me. I've decided that, should I go to Juniata, I'm going to break my own classroom silence and speak up more! Yeah! But overall, I did enjoy the class (the topics included Prohibition, women's right to vote, The Great Migration and jazz, and the Scopes trial) and the professor.

    • 11:30 AM: Instrumental Music Session, Professor Jim Latten — Departs from William Swigart Enrollment Center



    This was a little chat between Professor Latten and a few of us scholarship prospies about the music program. He went over aspects of it — lessons, concerts, rehearsals, etc. — and then took us to various places where rehearsal is, where we can store instruments, etc. He was pretty great. He was a little bit sad when none of us were percussionists, but, sensing this, I spoke up about having played steel drum in freshman year, and he was pretty excited at that. Apparently they have a steel drum! Haha. I might have to take it back up, just because, um, I can.

    • 12:00 PM: Scholarship Luncheon — William J.von Liebig Center for Science, Sill Board Room # 2075



    This could have been an incredibly awkward luncheon had there not been a random student at our table there to mingle with us. I told him I was interested in history, which was perfect seeing as he ended up being a History POE (Program of Emphasis, Juniata's version of the Major). He was pretty cool. He also talked about Juniata's choir, how they usually go international for concert tours but how they're touring the south this year. Two other kids sat at the table, one Arts kid and a Leadership one. I had to leave the lunch early, but my dad said that the Leadership guy was apparently a big track star back home, and that after I left he ate two more plates of food.

    Also, Professor David Hsiung spoke briefly before lunch started. He's the professor I spoke with when I first visited Juniata, who was kind of the reason I first decided to adore Juniata so much — just so that I could come and study history and take all of his classes! Because seriously, he is that cool. Well, after I left, my dad said he talked with Professor Hsiung a little bit, and that he remembered me! Whoa! He asked how my novel is going, haha, and was apparently impressed to hear that I'm in the revision stages, etc etc. Man oh man. I wish I could have talked to him myself. Yeah, I think I need to go to Juniata. And take his classes. All of them. Um. Coolest. Ever.

    • 1:00 PM: Experience the Classroom: Modern China, Professor Doug Stiffler — Good Hall, Room 221



    So I skipped out on the end of lunch for the History of Modern China, which involved the period from 1912 to, um, sometime before the 20s. Professor Stiffler was very enthusiastic, which was wonderful. He prompted the class to discuss a bit, he had us (me and the other Arts scholarship kid who was sitting in on the class — competition, oh noes!) introduce ourselves to the students (we both expressed interest in US History, to which he replied, "Which is why you're in a history of China class." Oh, indeed, right?)

    (By the way, you all. If you haven't listened to Drew Danburry, go. Now. Listen. Love. And then check him out this spring on his tour, because yes he is touring the country again and I am so excited because he is so amazing and can you tell that I'm listening to him right now? Because I am. But back to our regularly scheduled program, kiddos.)

    I'll tell you, though, I haven't actually learned about China since sixth grade. Sure, I should count AP World History in sophomore year, but like anyone learned anything in that class, let's be honest. And listening to Professor Stiffler teach made me think, "Hey. Maybe China more interesting than I thought." And that's what a professor is supposed to make you think, right? I have to say, I loved it the most when he made the class say the Chinese names. (How weird is Chinese pronunciation?) But I mostly loved how enthusiastic Professor Stiffler was, because you can tell he really loves what he's teaching.

    Man oh man. All of the history professors I've met have been so fantastic. Love. :)

    • 2:15 PM: Nomination Scholarship Interview: The Arts — Halbritter Performing Arts Center, Office 3



    Of course, after I left the interview, I came up with a million and one extra things that I could have said, should have brought up, etc. But I'm trying to keep myself from dwelling. "You were good, anyway, Amy!"

    Honestly, I can't think of what to say with this. The interviewers were supercool. Once we were past the initial six questions that every finalist was asked, it was great just chatting — about Red

    (Back to Drew Danburry: OH MAN HOW AMAZING IS THIS SONG. Fight it, deny it, I'll fight it, deny it, I won't let myself fall in love... fhguigkj! Okay, Amy shouldn't listen to Drew Danburry while trying to write up posts of substance. He just takes over my brain.)

    — about the pronunciation of Appalachian, about Kentucky, and most likely about other random things that I can't remember. So even though I didn't mention things I might have liked to discuss, it was an enjoyable experience. And I leave it at that.

    • 3:00 PM: Meeting with students from AWOL— William Swigart Enrollment Center



    This was admittedly a little awkward. I didn't know what to ask or talk about really. A note: AWOL stands for All Ways Of Loving, and it's like their equivalent to a Gay/Straight Alliance. The people I talked to, though, were so fun, really talkative, really nice, and it was nice to get a student perspective on Juniata from people who weren't involved in the day's Official Activities.

    • 3:45 PM: Wrap-up with Terri — William Swigart Enrollment Center



    Terri? Amazing. Fantastic. I love her, haha. She was so cheery, so wonderful. She made a great comment when she was leading the group to lunch — that my dad could be a college professor, what with his outfit and how he walked and held his laptop bag. My dad turned and said, "Good guess!" and she freaked out, "Oh my gosh! Are you serious?! Oh my gosh! I'll be telling this story for at least a year!"

    The wrap-up was basically time for last questions, her informing us of when I should find out about the scholarship, last-minute chatting. She also told us to eat at Mimi's for dinner, and when I mentioned the play that my interviewers had brought up, she said she'd call and get tickets set aside for us so that we could go see the production of Our Country's Good that evening.

    After that, we were held up for a few more minutes before leaving, as we spoke with two other people (one of whom remarked how it's neat that I'm from Kentucky but I don't have an accent — I loved that comment so much for some reason, haha), and then halfway to the car I remembered that I had left my coat on the hanger in the building, haha, and my dad went back to get it for me while I sat in the car (I had a sweater, so it's not like I was freezing).



    We chilled at the hotel a while, ate at Mimi's (yummy), and then saw the play. It was interesting. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, as I had no idea what it was about. But I thought that the production was amazing — the theater so cool, the actors fantastic, the lighting and costumes and soundtrack wonderful. Overall, a great production. The play was still weird, though.

    And now I'm home and tired and am going to do homework stuff tomorrow because I don't feel like doing anything else tonight. Except maybe eat a really late dinner. I'm exhausted!
  • Seeing as it's been awhile!

    Okay, I feel really bad. It's been a while since I (or anyone else besides Amy G, it looks) has blogged on here! It's not even that I've been busy — really, not that busy. More like senioritis has set in when it comes to every aspect of my life — school and non-school lives alike. Let's see, when was the last time I posted? Oh, like, last Sunday? My gosh! What's happened since then?

    Well, Darwin Day was February 12th, and that was also the last day we had Professor Steve Steve around.



    We took him to meet with the Darwin Day event peoples, joining them for dinner at the café at Joseph-Beth. Look, they had a menu made up 'specially for him, ahaha. (And that horse there is Dr. Ginger Kasey. God, all of the stuffed animal love. So hilarious.)



    And yes, my gosh, they even brought him drinks. He's a party animal, that Steve Steve.



    And he stole away to the teen section of the bookstore to sneak a peek at Red ;) (Look! We get a little sign on the bookshelf!)



    Then we headed over to the UU church for the Creation Museum presentation and the panel discussion. Professor Steve Steve indeed had his own spot on the panel.

    Overall, a very eventful day. The twelfth, see, was also a snow day! As was the thirteenth. And man. Those were good days. Good days. Just relaxing and reading and enjoying my general laziness.

    Seeing as February has become my "read whatever you feel like it!" month, here's a book update: I finished the Gemma Doyle trilogy — lovelovelovelove, need I say more? Then I read, um. Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno (it was interesting, I'll say — good, though not really the style I'm into at the moment), Fight Club (which was, um, weird, haha), and Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker (she was at the RED release party, so of course I had to read her book!). Now I'm working on The Boy Detective Fails, also by Joe Meno — though I am enjoying this one much more than Hairstyles. It's interesting, and absolutely heartbreaking. Oh man. I love it. It took a while to get into it, I'll admit, because it's very unusual, but it's fantastic, really. Next, I plan on reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, because I saw it on Saskia's bedroom floor when I was at her house this weekend and decided to borrow it because, hello, love Maureen Johnson. (I keep putting off The Psychology of Joss Whedon, I know. Eventually, eventually.)

    Now, I'll be missing two days of school this week so that I can head up to Juniata for a scholarship interview on Friday. I applied for the arts scholarship (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it here, I sent in a wonderful portfolio with a copy of RED, an excerpt from my novel, a few poems, a letter from Amy G, two Literatures CDs — I think I totally beat out anybody else who applied for it, haha, I'm that confident!) and so along with the interview, there's a luncheon (gosh, how awkward will that be? All of us competing for six scholarships, having to eat lunch together? Um, should be fun, er), and then I plan on sitting in on a history class and attending an instrumental music session and a study abroad session, as well as chatting with some people from their club that is equivalent to a Gay-Straight Alliance. Should be a very eventful day! Hopefully I won't be sick then, though, as I have an icky cold or something, and it makes me sad :(

    And now, to remind everybody that Saskia's created a monster in introducing me to Johnny's Entertainment, Yamapi, etc., a few videos that make me happy and that maybe will make you smile or dance or what have you (because honestly, how pretty is every single member of NEWS? So pretty!):

    Snow Express: Such an amazing song. And Yamapi rapping? HOW MUCH LOVE? SO MUCH LOVE.

    Sayaendou: I love the "bravo bravo!" bits, haha. And when they fly, it makes me happy :B

    Koyama and Shige being hilarious in their hotel room: Oh my god. Their giddiness makes me so giggly. I seriously want to be best friends with them, haha.

    Okay. Enough dorkiness from Amy. Like you all even watch the videos, ahaha. I just figure, you know, maybe I can convert more people ;) ahaha.

    Oh! And one last thing: chances are good I'll finally be seeing Spring Awakening over spring break ;) rock!
  • This just in!

    It's sunny again!

    But very cold.

    But sunny!

    And I had my delicious chicken salad sandwich. (Though Arby's makes it too fruity. I prefer the sandwiches at Third Street Stuff. But one cannot always be so picky.)

    And now I leave you be.
    Posted Feb 10 2008, 01:03 PM by amyh with no comments
    Filed under: , ,
  • Why yes, I do hang out with pandas on a semi-regular basis.

    It's been raining a lot lately. Earlier last week, we had those horrid storms that brought in terrible winds and even tornadoes (god, storms scare the crap out of me). It's been very muddy everywhere I go, caking my shoes and making my green fleur-de-two-lys shoes not quite so lovely. I suddenly find myself wanting a very brightly-colored raincoat.

    It was nice and sunny yesterday. For the thirty minutes that I was at school for Urinetown rehearsal (which was then cancelled, due to the dance instructor not being able to come), we were in the connector building, surrounded by glass and happy that the sun was out and all seemed happy. My friends and I chatted about how we should have more rehearsals in the connector building. The sunshine definitely beats out the theater lighting.

    But now it's dreary again.

    I don't really like this time of year very much. It's always dreary. Gray and wet. I don't like hearing the wind gusting outside my window, the tree branches scratching the sides of the house, the rain slapping the windows. It just sounds cold and gloomy outside. No screaming, laughing kids running around the street. I prefer sunshine.

    But no matter. I can find a way to make the best of today. I plan on eating a delicious chicken salad sandwich (from somewhere — I don't particularly care — I've simply been craving chicken salad since yesterday afternoon) and watching some videos and writing and doing homework and reading. (I finished the Gemma Doyle trilogy yesterday — so amazing, oh man. Now I'm working on a borrowed book called Hairstyles of the Damned. It's okay so far. I'm not sure it's really the sort of book I'm into, but I borrowed it and my friend wants it back and so I'd better get on with reading it. It'll probably get better. Keep an open mind, Amy, sheesh!)

    I also plan to hang out more with Professor Steve Steve. His last day in town is also nearing. Did I show you any pictures of when I brought him to school this week? No, I don't think so. (The pictures aren't that fantastic — I'd forgotten my actual camera, so I had to use my camera phone. Boo.)



    He came to science club, where he already knew Vincent.



    And he introduced himself.



    We took a tour of the chemical storeroom, where he classified himself as "Generally Safe."



    And he meets OSHA requirements! Yeah!



    We cleaned him up a little bit...



    ...so that he would be respectable enough to meet the Pope Mole! (And that other dude is his Charles Darwin sidekick.)

    The Professor's last day in Lexington is Tuesday, as he gets shipped out on Wednesday to do other important business. He's even been invited out for dinner on Tuesday evening! How lovely. Then after dinner, we'll be heading over to the UU church, I think, for a talk some guy is giving about his visit to the Creation Museum. Should be exciting!

    Oh! One last thing! Completely random, but no matter. I came across the most amazing necklace ever today. Honestly, I wish I could have it. So much. Isn't Etsy so fantastic? Ah!
  • Oh, the absurdity of my evenings.

    Yesterday, I mentioned the fact that I had to write a paper about something absurd, and that I was having issues thinking of a topic.

    Well, I decided to just start writing and see what came up. Um, here it is, ahaha.

    Note: it started out merely about, um, absurdity. And then turned into obsession. And ended up here.

    LiveJournal Love Affair

    Over the course of thinking of something truly absurd to write about, I kept getting sidetracked. Books to read, online videos to watch, stories to write! How am I supposed to find the time for schoolwork?

    Of course, the minute this thought occured to me, I realized: what the crap, Amy. You know what’s absurd? You are. Or at least, your priorities.

    In attempting to keep a wonderfully serene attitude this last year of high school, I somehow managed to distort my priorities. Seriously distort them. Homework and school don’t come first. No, I come home and I have to fulfill my daily obsession quota. This is brought about through my LiveJournal friends’ page, filled with rants or videos or pictures or questions galore. From cupcakes and music to shampoo and shoes. Suddenly, ten o’clock rolls around and what work have I done? Oh, my mind has wandered to my backpack on occasion. That counts, right? Points for effort?

    Probably not.

    What’s truly absurd is indeed the fact that I can’t stay away from LiveJournal. And it’s probably ruining my life.

    I’ve been holding this love affair with LiveJournal for four or so years now, and it doesn’t ever seem to let up. I even shelled out the money for a permanent account, so that I could have the entire 140 user pictures, the voice posting, the ten gigs of photo hosting. What’s even crazier is how LiveJournal, my longest-lasting obsession, won’t stop spawning new ones. Thank you, friends who come and go and introduce me to new things! Thanks to whomever brought random Japanese Idols onto my friends’ page and into my life, for now I cannot stop watching dramas and listening to music that use a language I can’t understand at all! Thank you, various communities, for providing me hordes of people with whom I can obsess over Ugly Betty and Gossip Girl! Even America’s Next Top Model, a show I don’t actually like a lot, but that I watch anyway just to read silly catty comments in the discussion post for each episode! Indeed, what could be more absurd than watching shows I can’t understand along with shows I can’t even stand? And it’s all thanks to you, LiveJournal.

    Writing this out, I begin to worry about my level of sanity. I go through this worry at least once a day, wondering, Should I let up? Should I try to stop? But even if I tried, I know I never really would. (Honestly: I tried the hiatus thing once. I think it lasted a month. But it was only a posting hiatus, and I still read entries and commented every day.)

    I understand the absurdity of obsession. Of not being able to tear yourself away from something you claim to love, even though it’s tearing you apart. I know that LiveJournal has permanently damaged my social skills, and that it can’t be healthy when sometimes I don’t even realize that I’ve wasted four hours simply refreshing the page to see if more people have posted. But you know what? I like to think that LiveJournal has done some good for me. I write all the time now! That’s good, seeing as I like to think of myself as a writer. And I keep in touch with friends, people from camps or past schools! I may not be able to socialize face-to-face very well, but when it’s online, I think I’m pretty darn fantastic.

    So I’m going to hurry up and finish writing this out. I haven’t checked my friends’ page in about twenty minutes. Who knows what might have happened since then!
  • I love how weird I get, haha.

    Since we finished Crime and Punishment, I've developed a much more serene attitude. Perhaps it's because our next unit is poetry, meaning we don't have to read any novels until after spring break! It most likely has a lot to do with the fact that I can now read whatever I do so desire. I finished A Great and Terrible Beauty the other day and am now nearing completion on Rebels Angels — finally, finally I can read The Sweet Far Thing! And then The Psychology of Joss Whedon! And who knows how many other books! Oh, this is so exciting. Books, books, I love books!

    Of course, another thing continuously drags me away from the joys of reading. It's called the computer. I love the internets and I love musics and I love love love , um. Yamapi. WAIT. THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY. But whatever. It's out once more. First on the blog it was Spring Awakening, now it's Yamapi. What next? Who knows! Oh dear! But since I'm on the subject, let me link you to two videos:

    Gomen ne Juliet: I heard this song and saw this video and my adoration was cemented. Oh dear. So beautiful, though *_* (do I mean the song, or Yamapi? Oh who knows...).

    I ZA NA I ZU KI: I decided that I needed to venture away from Yamapi a little bit and so I got more into his band (ahaha), NEWS. This song is so fantastic! And Yamapi's dance at the beginning: wonderful! Even though he looks a little funny in his skirt-thing. And Shige's lip action on "kuchizuke wo," oh man. SO MUCH FUN TO IMITATE. (And now I sound like a lunatic. But ah well.)

    I often wonder, "Do I blab too much about my obsessions on my RED blog?" Most likely. But then I click the link to view my blog and see that it says, "Maybe I'm a little too obsessive." So maybe my obsessions are like the main theme of this blog. That makes it all okay, right?

    I shouldn't be watching Yamapi videos right now. No, I should be thinking of an absurd topic or event or idea or object for English. We have to write up why it's absurd and the like. Maybe I could choose obsessions... except that's way too, um. I'm not sure. Weird? Yeah, yeah, weird. And I'm not sure I want my entire class knowing how crazy obsessive I get, er.

    Lauren says I should write about Buffy. That would be lovely.

    Hmm. I should get off of here and, well, do my homework. Shame on you, Amy! Shame! Allowing the computer to drag you from your responsibilities!

    Oh, but before I go: I'm super happy because I got word last night that I'm one of the six semifinalists for the arts scholarship (full tuition!) at Juniata. Rock :). Now to prepare myself for the interview on the twenty-second. How fun >.<