And my best friend is Elizabeth Bennet?

The first term of school is almost over, life is crazy busy, two weeks ago I turned in my application to work in Washington and what do I have to talk to you about? A recent discovery about my friend's personality. Yeah, it's just that exciting.
So the particular friend that I am thinking of is headstrong, smart, kind, frank, independent, loves her family and friends, loves the outdoors, loves reading, isn't afraid to tell a guy what she thinks..... Sound like anyone from classic English literature? Anyone?
Bingo -- Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice (and if we're talking film adaptions, as I believe I've mentioned before, the 1995 version starring Colin Firth is the ONLY way to go).
And speaking of Colin Firth, Pride and Prejudice is most certainly not a single-character based story. I would have been content to just make snide remarks about my friend's general need for her very own Mr. Darcy, but it just so conveniently happens that there is a certain guy at school who is, oh I dunno, tall dark and handsome? Smart? A little bit of a jerk sometimes? Yeah, and it gets better: my certain friend and this certain guy didn't exactly hit it off from the beginning. They were completely content to barely tolerate each other for quite awhile. (Ringing any bells for you yet?) Oh, but now? My friend thinks maybe she doesn't hate him any more. I'm not saying she likes him (yet :P), she just doesn't dislike him...... :D
Anyways, teasing my friend totally makes my day. Love you lots, honey pie!


Oh, P.S. This friend may or may not by the time you read this have written a blog post about this same topic at sweetcheeks48.blogspot.com

All boys are weird, but some are weirder than others

I found this incredibly  profound
statement on Google Images.
My life now has meaning.

Once upon a time there was a girl who had some awesome friends--and some slightly less awesome possums, but that's another story. This girl, unfortunately, went to school with a lot of teenage boys. "What could be so unfortunate," you say, "about going to school with a lot of teenage boys? I thought you liked boys, ReallyShawn."
To this I answer, "Nay, I like MEN. And since there are no MEN at my school, only teenage boys, it is indeed unfortunate." And to this you say, "Why are you talking so strangely, ReallyShawn?" and for that I have no answer. 
Moving on...

Ooh, and here it is
with a picture!

So in order to make snide remarks about these unfortunate teenage boys, the girl (that's me...in case you hadn't figured it out yet, I'm the girl...) and her awesome friends made up a nickname for each boy. That is, only the boys who mattered... Some of these nicknames were really random, like "Bud", "Presley" or "Gem". Others, like "Ella" or "Handsome Devils numbers 1 and 2" had to do with inside jokes dating back to at least the beginning of 10th grade. And finally, there were the nicknames that had to do with the unfortunate ones themselves--names like "Old man shoes" or "Stinky" that related specifically to their odd senses of style or the amount of cologne they bathed in (yeah, someone really needs to teach them the 'mist and walk through' technique).


And then writing in this odd, past tense-ish style became too difficult for the girl, and she decided to just tell you the rest of the story in a slightly more normal fashion...


So we give nicknames to any guys that we need to talk about without them, or the eighth grade girls that worship them, knowing about it. It's not that we particularly care if they know that we don't think they're quite all that and a bag of chips, it's just that everything's more fun in code. It makes us feel dangerous. *cue Mission Impossible theme*


One of our favorite things to do is go stink-eye hunting. Do you know what a stink-eye is? If not, you have lived a very sad life until now. The stink-eye, not to be confused with the smoldering love-look, is the perfect blend of glare and eye-roll, and is best delivered pointedly and with a subtle snort of disgust. 

It is our strong belief that it is precisely because we don't worship the ground that certain boys walk on, unlike...others, that we are so good at getting stink-eyes. It's the most fun to pass someone when they are having a conversation with one of their friends and they (1) stop, (2) give you a fantastic stink-eye as you walk by, and then (3) go right back to their conversation like it was totally normal to optically send death wishes your way.


Well, I'm done rambling (for now). Thanks, as always, for reading and THANK YOU, my dear Kaylla, for the shout-out on your blog.  It made me feel special.


And no, I don't actually have any possums.

And we'll have our own show on USA...

  So the mom of some of my really good friends is going back to school to study forensics. Since I work with her most school days in the elementary library we get to talk about this stuff a lot. For a really long time I wanted to go into forensics, the top choice being a...detective-y person (I don't know what the official title is. You know, the ones that work with the cops to solve crimes involving dead people?). This fantasy kind of ended when I realized how much science would be involved, but hey, maybe this year I'll discover that I actually LOVE chemistry.
  You see, I've always had this (somewhat un-ladylike) fascination with death. No, not as in the gothic, creepy, "deeeeeaaaathh" fascination, but as in I wanted to be an archaeologist just so I could touch mummies and my favorite part of studying the Middle Ages was learning about the Black Death.
  Anyways, my library buddy and I decided that we would have our own forensic-detectives team.  We'll solve mysteries and fight crime and be JUST like those TV shows, right? :D

Well....

  So, the first week of school was actually pretty darn good. I LOVE my core teacher, my family science class is AMAZING so far, we are doing one of my all-time favorite plays in drama class (Fiddler on the Roof), and for one period a day I get to work in the little kids' library down in the elementary hallway ( so far it's just been organizational stuff, but soon I'm going to learn how to check books out to the kids). The only problems are pre-calculus and chemistry. It's only the first week (which means review from the past two years) and I already have at least an hour of math homework every night. And while I am actually excited about science fair (because I get to do it with one of my best buds again this year) it's the whole, you know, science thing that I don't love as much.

  You see, I'm pretty severely right brained. Random, subjective, intuitive (okay, so maybe not so intuitive), looking at wholes rather than parts: pretty much me in a nutshell. It takes quite a bit of effort for me to be analytical or logical (dang it! not Vulcan after all...) With some effort I can do math and science and those things, but they come a LOT less easily.
   Well, enough complaining. Happy Labor Day everybody!

Thanks for reading, you are incredibly wonderful. :D

BACK TO SCHOOL! (and another song from Mr. Groban :D)

YAY! The 2010-2011 school year (for my incredibly wonderful school, anyway) officially starts tomorrow and I, for one, am SO EXCITED! I doubt that it will last past the first assignment or two, but I'm enjoying the joy while it lasts.
I'm going into the 11th grade which is arguably the most stressful year of high school, what with college applications and ACTs and SATs and all that fun stuff...but for now I'm just not going to think about that. I am excited to see my friends and excited to be a Junior and excited about who my core teacher is and excited to turn sixteen...
I'll try and post an update (and maybe some pics) when I get home tomorrow.

 Oh, and one more thing. If you hadn't noticed, I really really love Josh Groban and I think that I will post my new favorite song by him. :D Yes, I do actually listen to other music too. I'll post some good country or something next time.

Thanks for reading! :)