I just posted this on Facebook: I'm off to Florida tomorrow, the land of lanais and banana trees (which are metal things that you hang your bananas on, but only people in Florida seem to have them).
Needless to say, I'm immensely excited, because we get to spend an uninterrupted two weeks with our family while we're down there, and my mom said that we'll also get to stop in Orlando either on the way down or on the way back...either way, it's been a while since we've done that, and it amuses me to see the Harry Potter theme park billboards which decorate the highway every other mile or so.
Also, we get to see my cousins and uncle while we're down there, which has become a very rare occurrence due to the fact that he lives in Arizona now and my aunt lives in Kentucky - so they don't come to North Carolina or Florida very often anymore. This might be the last time that the four of us (my cousins and I) will be together in one place for a long while, due to the fact that my eldest cousin Autumn is going off to college in a few months (I believe it's the University of Louisville) to pursue a career as a pediatrician.
We're leaving tomorrow as soon as my mom gets off of work, and my dad is going to drop me off there in the morning. I'll have to pack-pack-pack so that I can be ready in time, and then, if things go as planned, we'll be driving over to Durham to pick my grandpa up...he's supposed to be coming down with us, too - if the good Lord is willing.
In other news, tomorrow is the day that the FINAL Harry Potter movie is being released in the United States; in fact, the midnight showing is due to begin in about fifteen minutes. A whole chapter of my childhood is ending tomorrow, or whenever I see the movie - it's sort of sad, when I think about it. But in any case, my friend Elisabeth stayed over at my house last night and we had a miniature Harry Potter marathon in order to prepare for this release of Part 2 of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Last night, we watched "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." This morning, we started to watch Part 1 of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," but we only got to the part where *SPOILER ALERT Snape sends his doe patronus to bring Harry to the sword of Gryffindor. Even my father, who is the opposite of a Harry Potter enthusiast, has been adding to the overall exciting mood. He's been walking around, quoting Ray Fiennes' (Voldemort) part in the movie trailer in a Bat-man sort of voice, "ONLY IIII CANN LIVE FOREVER, HARRY POTTER."
In any case, that is all really for the evening...I'm working on introducing conciseness to my blog entries, but I blog so rarely nowadays that being concise is difficult. I did have a few dreams since I last blogged - the one last night was like a mixture of Harry Potter and the "Prince of Egypt." Harry Potter was floating in the ocean in a wicker basket in one part...in another part, my mom and I were shopping in Aldi, and I had done something terrible and irreversible, though I cannot quite remember what it was. I'm always having dreams like that, anxiety dreams where I cannot fix something that I broke. For example, last week, I dreamt that I was probably pregnant - this occurred during the Bioscience program that I attended about two weeks ago (just to clarify, I did not do anything that wasn't G rated at the camp in real life), and my actions had been caught on camera - we think that this was part of the dream because on the previous night, we had watched an episode of "Six Feet Under" in which one of the brothers is caught on camera urinating against a wall and that photograph is placed in an art gallery. In any case, during the slideshow that the faculty presented on the last day of the camp, with all of the parents there, a photograph appeared of me and another fellow - shamefully creating the miracle of life. My dad nearly vomited and my mom scolded me for the rest of the dream and nagged about what we might find when we got ahold of a pregnancy test. I waited in dread for this moment for the rest of the dream...as strange as it sounds, I've had multiple recurrences of this sort of anxiety dream - it occurs almost as often as my school-related anxiety dreams. Perhaps one day, I'll understand my own subconscious.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Past Few Days and a Discussion of Flirtation
So, the past few days have been significant because I proved to myself that I can sustain a social life of sorts, and I shall verify it again tomorrow when Aaron comes over to my dad's for dinner and other such things. The past two days, however, I have spent the majority of my time with the lovely Keegan family, who live just up First Street from me. It was our first time really hanging out all summer, and the first time that we had gotten to seriously chat in months and months (because Saoirse and I didn't have the same lunch at school this past year, unfortunately). So yesterday, they biked down to my house, and then we went on a collective bike ride (which turned out to be a collective-pushing-our-bikes-up-the-hill) to Grace Court, the little gazebo park on Fourth Street where I might get married some day, if not in my church or at the beach. We sat in the gazebo for a while to catch our breath and cool down - it was really muggy outside, and I had that nasty feeling of sweat trickling down my back. While we sat there, we talked and talked and talked - I was afraid, as I always am before I have friends over, that I would not think of anything to say, but there had been so much that I'd missed in the last few months that I needed to catch up on, and likewise with the two sisters (Kiki and Saoirse) - we talked about the classes we're taking next year, the pros and cons of AP classes, and other things. Then, after about half an hour was spent in this manner, I suggested that we head back to the house in order to partake in some ice cream. I also hadn't brought my phone with me, so I had to make sure that no one had called me with important news in our absence.
After getting our rich chocolate ice cream from the kitchen, we all lounged around the dining room table for another hour or so, discussing things in greater detail, our teachers from the previous year, music, some silly rumors that had been going around and such. I played some of Julian Casablancas' music on the computer because Kiki had said that she was a fan of the Strokes and was in love with the main singer ("He's like, 33," Saoirse pointedly reminded her).
At some point yesterday, we were discussing the Red Box and how it was unfair that no one could use it unless they owned a credit card.
"Well, they have to do it that way because otherwise people would just take movies and never return them," Saoirse reminded us.
"Yeah, well, they could come up with another way of penalizing people for late returns," Kiki insisted.
Then I suggested, "Now what about this: In order to solve this problem, while also creating more jobs, there could be Red Box Repo Men or Bounty Hunters, who come after you if you don't return the movies." (I had to include this in my post today because I personally think that it's a brilliant idea, not to toot my own horn or anything).
So, that night, we ate dinner at the house, and then Saoirse, Kiki, and I retired to my room for a couple rounds of Taboo, which the two sisters won. The plan was to meet my mom at the golf course to watch the fireworks (they had been cancelled the previous night due to rain and a lady had told my mom that they would be done on the 5th instead). As we pulled up to the golf course, we were shocked to see that the lawn sprinklers were on all over the field, there were hardly any cars, and the people who were there were all crammed into a line of cars down a side road. They clamored at the fence, waiting to see if the fireworks would actually be lit.
Twenty minutes later, my mom joined us with Kooky in her stroller. We oohed and aahed over Kooky, for lack of fireworks to ooh and aah at (and also because she's the cutest baby ever). We hung around just talking until about 10:00, when people started to get into their cars and abandon the cause - we joined them, and my mom started to walk back home.
Today was an interesting day - I checked up on my application at Panera for the second time (the last time was in person, and I was told to contact one of the managers by telephone). I also found this gorgeous piece by Schubert, "Two Ecossaises," in the book on the piano. In a burst of creativity, I composed a piece for Lancy while I was in the shower, "La Chanson de Lancy" (The Song of Lancy). The following is what I have of it so far (and I have composed piano accompaniment as well):
"Mon chien, il a des oreilles pendantes
Et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien, il a des cheveux oranges
et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien, s'il pourrait, jouerait en neige
mais mon chien vive au sud, tant pis
Mon chien il a des mirettes ambres
et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien essaie de sortir la poubelle
Mais nous disons, 'Non,' parce qu'il la mange."
Translation:
My dog, he has floppy ears
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog, he has orange fur
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog, if he could, would play in the snow
but my dog lives in the south, too bad/never mind
My dog, he has amber-colored peepers
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog tries to take out the trash
but we say, "No" because he eats it. . .
I'm immensely excited about this song, might I add.
In any case, after I had messed around on the piano for a while, I made the journey to Saoirse's house around 1:00; Rina was able to come too, and so we all hung out in the girls' room and talked for a while - part of the time, we discussed dreams: Saoirse had an interesting one last night that I'm trying to get her to write down - she wants to turn it into a movie, but I told her that before she alters it (which she was trying to do) she ought to write it down in its pure form so that she doesn't forget it. In case she does and I need to remind her in the future, it was something like this - she and her family were in a land whose demographics recalled aspects of Africa, India, and China all together (I imagined it during the description as a sort of barren, brown savanna, but that might be erroneous on my part). There were people all over the place receiving different colored popsicles (the kind that are in the plastic that you have to cut open with scissors and then slide up with your hands). Everyone was clamoring to receive a pink popsicle, because these allegedly gave one the privilege to attend a "meet-and-greet" with some famous person. There were only five pink popsicles. Everything was just fine, and people were merely running around trying to find pink popsicles, until one lady who didn't care to meet the celebrity tried to hand off her pink popsicle to someone else - at which point it exploded, instantly killing her and others in her midst. People didn't yet associate the pink popsicles with being explosive, and so Saoirse and some people were riding around in a truck, trying to find her son (who was a little boy of Indian descent) and also a pink popsicle. However, as they drove around, two more people exploded, and so then Saoirse was intent on finding her boy before he found one of the pink popsicles and detonated the horror within. Just as she laid her eyes on him - he was standing in a group of people near a line of purple flowers - he was handing off his pink popsicle to a teacher, and the explosion proceeded in slow motion. She said that she woke up bawling for her lost son.
Kiki also had a weird dream that she had broken her neck in some sort of sports event and no one would bind it up. They insisted that it was ok, so she wandered around for the rest of the dream, worried that she might injure it if she moved it the wrong way.
I had a weird dream last night as well, which leads me to our next topic of conversation: flirtation.
Let me preface by saying that while the definition of flirtation seems pretty clear (well, as clear as pure innuendo can be), I do not understand the concept at all - pas du tout. That is to say, I cannot employ it in a practical situation.
Real quick, before the dream, here was the scenario I was faced with when I was out on the porch, about to play the trumpet while waiting for my mom to pick me up today for lunch.
I had to sign for a GPS package, which I put inside, awkwardly holding the trumpet in my left hand - then I returned outside and went to sit on the bench, preparing to warm up. Two teenage or college-age boys passed on the sidewalk, and one said bawdily, "Hey gurrrrl, you play the trumpet?"
I said, "Oh yes. Yes I do."
He said, "Gurrrl, we gotta jam sometime."
I responded cheerfully, with my eyebrows raised, "Ah! Do you also play the trumpet?"
He grinned and assumed air-guitar pose, "Nah, I play the guitar." He put a special emphasis on the word "guitar." Just as they were about to turn the corner he yelled, "See you later - you take care!" in what seemed to be a flirtatious tone.
I said, "Have a great weekend!" and waved awkwardly. Then I proceeded to play the trumpet.
Now, my refusal to flirt had nothing to do with my fear of the two guys who passed by or my dislike of them - I am not so conservative that I will deny the fact that flirtation by itself is a harmless act. I simply am too square to do it right.
In the dream I had last night, my mom and I went to a restaurant that we frequent weekly, where we are just as frequently flirted with by one of the members of the staff. The only difference in the dream from real life was the color of the staff's uniforms (they were black instead of blue). Everything else proceeded as usual - we placed our orders, and then every now and then our waiter made some sort of innuendo-toned comment and I either did not hear and so would be required to say, "What?" or I would hear and not know how to respond. Either case was awkward, and so when we were faced with the decision of where to eat lunch today, my mom and I chose Arby's - that choice was also influenced by the fact that we wanted the apple turnover that is offered at Arby's.
So that is all I have to say about flirtation.
The rest of the night passed relatively uneventfully - at some point I said to myself, "I ought to catch up on my blogging tonight!" which is of course what I did. Tomorrow Hopey and I will have the whole day together and we might meet the Keegans at the park at some point. Then, of course, Aaron is going to come over at 5:30, and we might teach him this new game Ratuki that Hope got for her birthday. It's really fun.
I shall also work a little bit more tonight on the short story that is gradually becoming a novella, one which greatly focuses on dreams. In any case, good night all.
After getting our rich chocolate ice cream from the kitchen, we all lounged around the dining room table for another hour or so, discussing things in greater detail, our teachers from the previous year, music, some silly rumors that had been going around and such. I played some of Julian Casablancas' music on the computer because Kiki had said that she was a fan of the Strokes and was in love with the main singer ("He's like, 33," Saoirse pointedly reminded her).
At some point yesterday, we were discussing the Red Box and how it was unfair that no one could use it unless they owned a credit card.
"Well, they have to do it that way because otherwise people would just take movies and never return them," Saoirse reminded us.
"Yeah, well, they could come up with another way of penalizing people for late returns," Kiki insisted.
Then I suggested, "Now what about this: In order to solve this problem, while also creating more jobs, there could be Red Box Repo Men or Bounty Hunters, who come after you if you don't return the movies." (I had to include this in my post today because I personally think that it's a brilliant idea, not to toot my own horn or anything).
So, that night, we ate dinner at the house, and then Saoirse, Kiki, and I retired to my room for a couple rounds of Taboo, which the two sisters won. The plan was to meet my mom at the golf course to watch the fireworks (they had been cancelled the previous night due to rain and a lady had told my mom that they would be done on the 5th instead). As we pulled up to the golf course, we were shocked to see that the lawn sprinklers were on all over the field, there were hardly any cars, and the people who were there were all crammed into a line of cars down a side road. They clamored at the fence, waiting to see if the fireworks would actually be lit.
Twenty minutes later, my mom joined us with Kooky in her stroller. We oohed and aahed over Kooky, for lack of fireworks to ooh and aah at (and also because she's the cutest baby ever). We hung around just talking until about 10:00, when people started to get into their cars and abandon the cause - we joined them, and my mom started to walk back home.
Today was an interesting day - I checked up on my application at Panera for the second time (the last time was in person, and I was told to contact one of the managers by telephone). I also found this gorgeous piece by Schubert, "Two Ecossaises," in the book on the piano. In a burst of creativity, I composed a piece for Lancy while I was in the shower, "La Chanson de Lancy" (The Song of Lancy). The following is what I have of it so far (and I have composed piano accompaniment as well):
"Mon chien, il a des oreilles pendantes
Et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien, il a des cheveux oranges
et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien, s'il pourrait, jouerait en neige
mais mon chien vive au sud, tant pis
Mon chien il a des mirettes ambres
et quand il aboie, il dit, 'Ouaf ouaf.'
Mon chien essaie de sortir la poubelle
Mais nous disons, 'Non,' parce qu'il la mange."
Translation:
My dog, he has floppy ears
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog, he has orange fur
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog, if he could, would play in the snow
but my dog lives in the south, too bad/never mind
My dog, he has amber-colored peepers
and when he barks, he says, "Woof woof."
My dog tries to take out the trash
but we say, "No" because he eats it. . .
I'm immensely excited about this song, might I add.
In any case, after I had messed around on the piano for a while, I made the journey to Saoirse's house around 1:00; Rina was able to come too, and so we all hung out in the girls' room and talked for a while - part of the time, we discussed dreams: Saoirse had an interesting one last night that I'm trying to get her to write down - she wants to turn it into a movie, but I told her that before she alters it (which she was trying to do) she ought to write it down in its pure form so that she doesn't forget it. In case she does and I need to remind her in the future, it was something like this - she and her family were in a land whose demographics recalled aspects of Africa, India, and China all together (I imagined it during the description as a sort of barren, brown savanna, but that might be erroneous on my part). There were people all over the place receiving different colored popsicles (the kind that are in the plastic that you have to cut open with scissors and then slide up with your hands). Everyone was clamoring to receive a pink popsicle, because these allegedly gave one the privilege to attend a "meet-and-greet" with some famous person. There were only five pink popsicles. Everything was just fine, and people were merely running around trying to find pink popsicles, until one lady who didn't care to meet the celebrity tried to hand off her pink popsicle to someone else - at which point it exploded, instantly killing her and others in her midst. People didn't yet associate the pink popsicles with being explosive, and so Saoirse and some people were riding around in a truck, trying to find her son (who was a little boy of Indian descent) and also a pink popsicle. However, as they drove around, two more people exploded, and so then Saoirse was intent on finding her boy before he found one of the pink popsicles and detonated the horror within. Just as she laid her eyes on him - he was standing in a group of people near a line of purple flowers - he was handing off his pink popsicle to a teacher, and the explosion proceeded in slow motion. She said that she woke up bawling for her lost son.
Kiki also had a weird dream that she had broken her neck in some sort of sports event and no one would bind it up. They insisted that it was ok, so she wandered around for the rest of the dream, worried that she might injure it if she moved it the wrong way.
I had a weird dream last night as well, which leads me to our next topic of conversation: flirtation.
Let me preface by saying that while the definition of flirtation seems pretty clear (well, as clear as pure innuendo can be), I do not understand the concept at all - pas du tout. That is to say, I cannot employ it in a practical situation.
Real quick, before the dream, here was the scenario I was faced with when I was out on the porch, about to play the trumpet while waiting for my mom to pick me up today for lunch.
I had to sign for a GPS package, which I put inside, awkwardly holding the trumpet in my left hand - then I returned outside and went to sit on the bench, preparing to warm up. Two teenage or college-age boys passed on the sidewalk, and one said bawdily, "Hey gurrrrl, you play the trumpet?"
I said, "Oh yes. Yes I do."
He said, "Gurrrl, we gotta jam sometime."
I responded cheerfully, with my eyebrows raised, "Ah! Do you also play the trumpet?"
He grinned and assumed air-guitar pose, "Nah, I play the guitar." He put a special emphasis on the word "guitar." Just as they were about to turn the corner he yelled, "See you later - you take care!" in what seemed to be a flirtatious tone.
I said, "Have a great weekend!" and waved awkwardly. Then I proceeded to play the trumpet.
Now, my refusal to flirt had nothing to do with my fear of the two guys who passed by or my dislike of them - I am not so conservative that I will deny the fact that flirtation by itself is a harmless act. I simply am too square to do it right.
In the dream I had last night, my mom and I went to a restaurant that we frequent weekly, where we are just as frequently flirted with by one of the members of the staff. The only difference in the dream from real life was the color of the staff's uniforms (they were black instead of blue). Everything else proceeded as usual - we placed our orders, and then every now and then our waiter made some sort of innuendo-toned comment and I either did not hear and so would be required to say, "What?" or I would hear and not know how to respond. Either case was awkward, and so when we were faced with the decision of where to eat lunch today, my mom and I chose Arby's - that choice was also influenced by the fact that we wanted the apple turnover that is offered at Arby's.
So that is all I have to say about flirtation.
The rest of the night passed relatively uneventfully - at some point I said to myself, "I ought to catch up on my blogging tonight!" which is of course what I did. Tomorrow Hopey and I will have the whole day together and we might meet the Keegans at the park at some point. Then, of course, Aaron is going to come over at 5:30, and we might teach him this new game Ratuki that Hope got for her birthday. It's really fun.
I shall also work a little bit more tonight on the short story that is gradually becoming a novella, one which greatly focuses on dreams. In any case, good night all.
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