I'm melllltinnnnggggg!

It's real! That's not visual effects! Now, I'll never do something like that, especially considering that I felt like a little part in me died when they completely smashed up Davy Crockett's violin in The Alamo, but considering the weather right now, that's what I feel like whenever I practice.

Here's the dilemma. During the day, it's too hot to open the windows because all that does is let in muggy, humid air, maybe a warm breeze that gives off a similar effect as the smoke from Lady of the Green Kirtle's fire. At night, though, when outside it's a lot cooler and opening windows might actually have a good effect, it's the time where I don't think the neighbors would appreciate listening to a Bach partita unless they're having some sort of ballroom dancing party outside, know how to dance a jig, and don't mind the consistent stream of wrong notes. And even if the day is somewhat cool enough to open up the windows to let out some of the indoors heat, generally there's people outside enjoying the mild weather, giving me an undesired audience. This is one of the times where it seems like summer (or global warming) is hitting just a tad too early for my taste.

At least the heavy rains from the weekend gave us something pleasant along with the humidity. Next time you go outside, look at the blooming dogwood or cherry blossom or whatever trees are in your area before the sight goes away. They only bloom for a few weeks each year. Apparently, global warming gave us March showers that bring April flowers this year.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Except for the fact that I do give a damn and the "my dear" I'm referring to is actually a list of the things I need to do over spring break. Being the obsessive-compulsive person I am, I made a list and categorized it into three sections: "School," "Music," and "Personal." The stuff under each category? Not quite appealing. I won't go into details. It's a lot of grunt work. 

Seeing as spring break is two weeks long this year (my sister in college only got one), I figured that it would be "extra-relaxing" with all that extra dead time. I was wrong - indeed, two weeks means more time, but in the minds of teachers, parents, and yes, even myself, that means more time to catch up on all the things I haven't done so far this year. And I know that if I don't do this stuff, I'll be, to put it frankly, pretty much screwed over.

Happy spring break, everyone, and I hope you're catching up on your accumulated lost sleep more efficiently than I am. 

Indoor Barbecue

At what point do failed culinary creations stop being considered under the "culinary" category? I think I found it.

A couple days ago, my mom was making soup - it's one of those soups where you put in a whole mesh of raw food (meat, vegetables, etc.) into a pot of boiling water and hope that the combination tastes good. Then she forgot about it for about an hour and a half, two hours. I was in the next room over when I started smelling something burning. I walked into the kitchen and the entire room was engulfed in smoke. Thick masses of smoke that were hard to see through. I made my way to the stove, turned it off, then looked into the pot - all the water was gone and all that remained was a disfigured hunk of meat that was half charred, half raw. Oh, and also the remains of a cooking spoon (one of those that have metal handles while the actual spoon part is plastic). It looked pretty similar to a clay sculpture a kindergartener would make, with the crushed, melted black mess attached to a long, smooth handle. I have to say, that was the first time I'd ever seen a kitchen utensil melt inside the pot; I'd only ever seen it melt when actually in direct contact to the stove.

The one satisfying thing that came out of this was that I was allowed to yell at my mom for forgetting about her "cooking" for such a long time that the kitchen became like an indoor barbecue.

This was two days ago. The pot's been soaking in water ever since to rid the bottom of the burns. No change so far.

It's snow! It's rain! It's dandelion seeds!

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It's been a ridiculous week here (weather-wise), but I think that global warming has finally decided that it's too tired to continue hammering the East Coast with almost-natural-disasters. I have to admit, though, during that huge rainstorm last week, it was no small satisfaction to realize that my middle-of-the-woods, across-the-street-from-a-cattle-farm house lost power for a total of five minutes while people living in civilized areas about fifteen miles east lost power for three days. I think I'll just consider that payback (plus interest) for the time the snowstorm blew through the area and my house lose power for over 24 hours.

The April showers seem to have come a few weeks early, but I'm not one to complain. Personally, I love the rain - especially when it's the last thing you hear before going to sleep. It has that sort of soothing sound, the kind that's like running water but more distinct and more calming. But, a few days ago, when I was looking out the window in the car, I saw a whole bunch of floating white things fluttering through the air. They were small and for one wild minute I was wondering if it was snowing again (although come to think of it, that's a pretty irrational thought - it was just a tad bit too warm for snow). Closer inspection revealed that they were dandelion seeds! Some little kid made a pretty darn strong wish on that flower.

I guess I'm going to miss all the snow that came through this year, especially since they've been the biggest blizzards we've had in the past decade or so, but hey, I'm going to enjoy having the opportunity to open my window and enjoy the fresh air. At least I'll enjoy it until it starts downpouring again.

Happy one season closer to 2012!

Good morning, moon!

Too cheesy of a title? Oh, well.

But I'm happy to say I'm not saying good morning to the moon anymore (figuratively speaking - I'm not that poetic). I wake up in the morning and although I can't really say that the sun is shining, I can truthfully announce that it doesn't look like the dead of night anymore. As in, the woods are distinguishable and when I walk outside, I can see the rosy fingertips of dawn (to make a strained attempt at referencing Homer). The only issue? Paradise of light lost by Sunday morning!

Springing ahead! Possibly the worst two words of this month. I know it's only an hour lost for one day but that hour means an hour lost of sleep. Especially after the extreme lack of sleep occurring this week (or at the very least, disgustingly raised amounts of unexplainable fatigue), I think every minute counts. And naps are something that are pretty much physically impossible for me so I like those extra nighttime hours. Although I still find it fascinating how my cellphone clock automatically goes from 11:59 PM to 1:00 AM (but that's just because I'm a dork). 

Hope you all remember to set your technologically-challenged clocks forward on Sunday! That would be quite unfortunate if you showed up to everything that day an hour late (I know - I did that last year).

Alice in Narnia...

I went to see Alice in Wonderland today - it was a pretty awesome movie. Great effects, brilliant casting choices for the insane characters, 3D that doesn't make you get dizzy, etc. What I noticed about it, though, was that there are so many parallels between that movie and others. Maybe it's because I was thinking of the other movies the same actors have been in, maybe it's because I just have a thing for fantasy stories, I don't know. But I did notice some things.

For instance - it reminded me a lot of Narnia. The way that they're all waiting for some figure from the past to come back and liberate the people of Wonderland from some oppressive power - doesn't that remind anyone of Prince Caspian where they're waiting for the Pevensies to come back and put the angsty teenager back on the throne? And the way that Alice believes that her trip down the rabbit hole as a child was merely a dream is very reminiscent of Susan's predicament where she believes that all her adventures in Narnia were imagined (although that one's a little bit more of a stretch, seeing as Susan spent half a lifetime in Narnia, whereas Alice spent just a few days in Wonderland). Granted that it's only been out a day and most people haven't seen it yet, you probably wouldn't be able to understand this reference completely. But when you do see it, I kid you not, you'll probably notice the same things.

Lewis Carroll came before C.S. Lewis, but the screenplay for the new Alice in Wonderland came after the Narnia movies/books. I'm still trying to figure out which series would be credited with being the first to think of these ideas.

But for some other thoughts - 

1) Johnny Depp's running style as the Mad Hatter and Captain Jack Sparrow are the same

2) Princess Diaries trained Anne Hathaway well.

3) Helena Bonham Carter is awesome at playing psychotic characters.

4) Why does no one ever credit Mia Wasikowska? Sure, she's not as big of a name as Johnny Depp, but she has a bigger role in the movie. Pooh to the publicizing people.

5) Alan Rickman has an incredibly distinctive voice.

6) I love the Cheshire Cat. More so than before.

7) I got really excited seeing the new trailer for Tron Legacy. Don't judge me.

Preposterous?

Posterous makes me think of "preposterous." As in, something that might possibly be more entertaining than facebook is preposterous! Seeing that I haven't done anything on said website in about a week and I'm not caught up in the whole world of games and such, though, this possibility might actually become very real. 

But on a lighter note, maybe this will get me inspired to write down my random thoughts and phrase them oh-so-eloquently in text once again! So, for starters - let's see...

It's almost spring! There is a countdown on my computer that says only 13 days until the last day before spring break! And I went outside today without a coat and just a sweater. I thought that was pretty awesome. This is making me think of that one line from Miss Congeniality where the answer to "Describe the perfect date" was April 25 because it's not too hot, not too cold - all you need is a light jacket! Hm, if I say that out loud, I sound like I have lots of air in my head. So I won't say it out loud. I don't think I'm doing too well with the whole "phrase your thoughts" eloquently part. Ah, well. I think I'll just blame that on the fact that I'm talking about the wonderful world of springtime at 11:40 PM where it's really dark and cold outside at the moment (obviously). I think it's best that I wrap this up soon.

I shall see you all soon with a (hopefully) better-worded post. 

Look! Colors!