Rewind

I feel like being reflective today. I mean, it's New Year's Eve, and I always have the feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something important. Such as finishing "Pride and Prejudice" and doing the homework I sort of put off. Or writing a letter to the president. Or at least making some cheesy New Year's resolutions that I never keep anyway.
So I thought about 2007 (for like 8 minutes...in the shower) and the reasons that I thought it was such a crappy year. Such as:

1. My dog died. 7 years is a long time to have a dog, especially when he was older than dirt to begin with. But he was my first dog, and so putting him down was really sad.

2. I'm crap with boys. Yeah. This is mostly what made the year so unbearable. Mostly because of tension. Or something. Looking back, I would much rather have minded my own business and kept reading my Pony Pals.

3. One word: Church. My family was planning to leave a church we'd been going to even before we got Oggy, but we didn't know when and we couldn't tell anybody. I wanted to leave so badly, but I didn't want to leave behind friends and stuff. But we finally did, so it's not like I couldn't leave it all completely behind me.

4. I didn't make the basketball team. This really sucked at the time, because I had to hold it in all day while people apologized, and I'd kind of been having trouble with some girls at the time, so that entire day kind of bombed, but it ended up being okay because I made the team, so I probably shouldn't even consider this a reason.

But the year didn't turn out completely wasted.

1. Um, I got elected president!! That's pretty cool. REALLY cool. And it upped my social status somewhat. My fellow freshmen still think I'm a nerd, but who cares?

2. I made the basketball team and discovered sports. Basketball and track rule. Hopefully I REALLY make the basketball team this year and 5 people don't die in order for me to get a spot. And track should be fun. I've gotten faster, only I haven't run in a while, so I'm pretty out of shape.

3. We found an awesome new church. I'm finally enjoying church for the first time in 15 years. And they have a good worship team.

4. I GOT A BASS!!! And I don't suck completely!

So yeah. Lol, 4 reasons each, that's pretty balanced. I'm pretty psyched for 2008, because, hello? Freshmen! In 5 months, but who cares!!? People are already talking about it! Including myself!! How shallow!! And we might go to Creation, and maybe Nancy will give us plane tickets. Georgia, anyone?? Oh yeah, and I have to do ASB stuff. Hopefully no more summer school, though I secretly enjoy it.

Actually, if you want to be SUPER accurate, "Drama Queen" is the only song I should have on there

Which is true...
So I'm done with my 2007 playlist. And the worst thing is when I was reviewing my year trying to think up appropriate songs to symbolize the major events that happened this year, I realized this isn't the worst year I've had. In fact, it wasn't that bad. I'm just a major drama queen. I guess that could be both a good and bad thing.
Spending much time in prayer, lol.
I love my bass.
So here you have it.
I'll be happy to explain my reasoning for most of the songs if you're curious, but there are some that I'm way too embarassed to explain.

1. "Pumpin' Up the Party", Hannah Montana
2. "If We Were A Movie", Hannah Montana
3. "Broken Heart", Falling Up
4. "Get'cha Head In the Game", B5
5. "Replace Me", Family Force 5
6. "I Feel So Good", KJ-52
7. "My Last Breath", Evanescence (because no other song fit really...I guess)
8. "I Miss You", Blink-182
9. "Holier Than Thou", Metallica
10. "Drama Queen", Family Force 5
11. "The God That Failed", Metallica
12. "Always Waiting", Stellar Kart
13. "Surrender", BarlowGirl
14. "You Can't Stop the Beat", Hairspray Cast
15. "What Time Is It", High School Musical Cast
16. "Punk Rawk Show", MXPX
17. "Harder Than the First Time", BarlowGirl
18. "Start of Something New", Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens
19. "Homesick At Spacecamp", Fall Out Boy
20. "We're All In This Together", High School Musical Cast
21. "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now", Nikki Blonksy, Marissa Janet Winokur, and Rikki Lake
22. "Dance With Me", Debelah Morgan
23. "What's My Age Again?", Blink-182
24. "Thankful", Caedmon's Call (wow, this one actually has a double meaning. Cool.)
25. "Scars Remain", Disciple
26. "What's This?", Fall Out Boy

Not exactly a white Christmas, more of an off-white, or a cream

I love how it's been snowy since Christmas. It snowed practically all day yesterday.
Ew, yesterday = NOT FUN. I woke up with this stomach flu that my little brother had on Christmas Eve. Soooo nasty. I puked up a LOT of chocolate cake. And I had a fever of 100.7, which is fairly low considering the temps people sometimes get to (104.3?), but it was all hot despite the snow outside. I got to sleep a lot, though, and eat Ritz crackers, so that was okay.
And I'm suddenly all better now.
AAARGH, one thing I'm NOT better about was this episode on "Tyra" about Gaydar, and some supposedly "scientific tests" to see if you could tell if someone was gay. It was supposed to be about breaking down barriers and forgetting stereotypes, but I think it just made the stereotypes we have more obvious. Ugh, Tyra is SUCH an idiot. I thought being a talkshow host required a brain, but I guess not, because Rosie O'Donnell, Oprah, and Rachael Rae are sort of lacking in that department. Also, SHE'S A SUPERMODEL!! Aaagh, but it's like she has NO PEOPLE SKILLS!! And there was this one guy who everyone thought was gay because he fit the effeminate gay stereotypes (he was, but that's not the point), but he started talking and everyone started laughing at him, and Tyra was all, "Ha ha ha, we don't even have to guess on that one!" Who even says that?
So yeah.
"Stardust" is actually a super good movie. SOOOOO much better than the book. Tristan looks a lot better once Robert de Niro gets his hands on him.
Lol, I got my dad to buy me the Hannah Montana soundtrack. He had this karaoke version that he plays for his students sometimes, but the vocalist was SO OBVIOUSLY not Hannah Montana. It was like some 40-year-old woman. Ew.
Ew, there's a Jesse McCartney song on there.
B5's song didn't suck as much as I thought it would, but no one can beat Earth, Wind, and Fire.
"Pop Princess" is my new favorite song. POP PRINCESS, HOLD MY HAAAAND, POP PRINCESS, I'M A FAAAAAN!

It's not "Shining Star", but it's a start.

Happy Christmas, Harry! Happy Christmas, Ron!
Speaking of Harry Potter, I watched the 5th movie recently and it sucked, but I really liked Luna Lovegood and Ron was a hottie.
Still working on my 2007 playlist. There's this one Barlowgirl song I need to add. Also, I'm definitely replacing the Tobymac opening track with a Hannah Montana one. Unfortunately, I did not receive a Hannah CD for Christmas. Darn.
I DID get High School Musical 2: Extended Edition, though. Yeaaaah. We watched it last night and it's pretty much the best movie I've ever seen. That one part with Sharpay STILL makes me cry. Sooo sad. I hate Vanessa Hudgens.
Soooo I'm LOVING my bass. It's all black and beautiful and shiny and there's a small dent in it, but it works GREAT. My amp is bigger than William's, though. He's better at guitar than I am at bass, though. :P I managed to somewhat master sixteenth notes. Its been fun. Maybe by next year I can play in pep band!!
Uh oh, scandalous pajamas!! Comfy, though. I already ate all my Christmas candy.
SWEET, thanks to my dad's diligent help with my quarter collecting over the years and the $10 my grandma gave me for Christmas, I might just go out and BUY that Hannah Montana CD.
So Christmas was good and William is having a semi-fabulous birthday. Actually, Chuck E. Cheese was kind of lame because his friend was being stupid.
But he always has Mario.
Heh, yesterday we were being dumb and singing along to Metallica with our best James Hetfield impressions. Ironically, today is Lars Ulrich's birthday. Hm.

Santa is depressed...and he's a pig?

Yeah, I just went to my church's Christmas Eve service, which was pretty cool, because the whole theme was Jesus' birthday, so there were balloons everywhere and pictures of cake on the bulletins and we gave him "gifts" and sang songs. The only bad part was the puppet show. I will forever have nightmares of not-funny puppets with stage fright.
Yeah, I've sort of been online a lot today. It's all good. After all, it's Christmas Eve.
Kind of feel bad that I just had a sermon on not focusing on gifts and on God, but now I'm bugging my mom to let me open presents. I don't even know if we'll do it because William has the flu and wanted to sleep in my mom's room, so she didn't get to wrap them. Like I want wrapped presents. Okay, yeah, I do want wrapped presents.
Aaargh, I just read "Falcondance", sequel to "Snakecharm", and it, too, was a letdown. I thought it started off good, though, and had me pretty hooked, but then it fizzled and got really confusing. Nicias is a cool kid.
Hopefully "Wolfcry" will be better, as it has Oliza, Zane and Danica's kid, as the narrator, but the last book is sure to suck.
Foom foom foom. Mmm, rodeo cheeseburgers.
Merry Christmas. No happy holidays for you.

"This is one of my fantasies...only it's not cherry pie...and you're not in it."

I don't try to think about his exact meaning.
Yay I love the Sims, don't you?
So my family is all, "Since you didn't get to open your presents until the day after Christmas last year, why don't we open them on Christmas Eve?" All right, that's cool. Only I'm only getting one present this year. Man. How depressing. AND I know what it is. At least it's cool. My grandpa told me to bring my bass to his house once I get it and play for him. Yeah right, like I can play.
Aaargh, I was going to play trombone for the worship team, but then my dad brought home the music and it was SOOOO freaking hard. I mean, it was the hardest piece of music I've ever played, and I haven't been playing very challenging trombone music as of late. But this was like, *high* D D G F# E D C natural, really fast, and then go to a high A, like a Chicago horn line. Aaargh. So I was really mad that I couldn't play it and my dad thought I was mad at him and was all, "Awww, don't feel bad, it's all right." Argh, felt like a failure. I'm mostly worried about how it'll sound when my dad goes to the worship team people and is all, "Oh yeah, it was way too hard for my daughter, can she play some other time?" Cuz they probably won't let me. It figures we had to choose a church with a really good worship team.
Do do do do do do.
Hannah Montana.
Yay, annual Christmas party last night. Okay, this is two years in a row that we haven't had Nancy's delicious coconut bonbon-y things. Those are my favorite and she STOPPED MAKING THEM. >:P Haate. The littlest cousins were pretty cute, though. Cooper wreaked havoc on Christine's magazines, Brooke and Lachlan took on the other twins (and won), and Gage and Taylor ran around screaming and trying to get upstairs to look at presents.
OMG, Braeden got the HSM 2: Extended Edition and we were watching it!!! I only got to watch half, though, then I had to go. Ew, there was this weird scene that had not been in the movie (read: extended edition) where Sharpay and Ryan perform "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" for Troy and Sharpay names Troy the fish prince and Ryan throws a temper tantrum. It was SOOOOOOOOO disturbing.

Hilary Swank makes me want to barf.

I thought "P.S. I Love You" looked cheesy but sort of interesting, but apparently it really sucks. Lol, A&E had a really funny movie review, though. "Tonight, we all dine in hell."
Soooo Winter Break has been fun so far. It's weird, though, because it doesn't really feel like Christmas. Maybe because last year was so weird...I don't know. But I went "Christmas shopping" with my mom and William (really, we just looked around and hinted about what we wanted) and seeing all the Santas in swimsuits and hideous reindeer sort of reminded me...oh, Christmas is in 4 days. Actually, Christmas Eve is in 3 days, and we've decided to open our presents then, soooo.... Dang, I know like everything that I'm getting, though. I think I should be more excited about getting a bass. I don't know. I'm scared that I'll suck at it, cuz all the bass players I know are really good and I'm not stellar at string instruments. I keep hearing that bass is different, but still.
I love blueberry muffins!
Yay for the Sims! So far my Avalon families are doing nicely and I'm trying to get Adriane and Zach to have 6 kids, hopefully twins, but I don't have "Open for Business", so some of the twin cheats are unavailable. Oh well. I just have a weird obsession with fulfilling all Sims' life goals. Kara's kids look black, but they have green skin. Marcus is so adorable, though. (It's sad, I had to name her second son after a guy she had a crush on in the series???) Yeah, I'm a nerd.
Ummmm...working on 2007 playlist. But not really. I was thinking "Start of Something New" as the first song, because my 14th birthday seemed so promising, but I don't know now. Maybe something birthday related??
Do do do do do do.
I have to go do some Honors Society stuff. Yay, watch little kids whilst eating candy and watching movies!!! Wonder what we're watching.
I love Anchorblue.

Why DO you have my pants?

OMG this is seriously the best day of my freshman year. Seriously, it was so sweet. Also, I'm wearing my dad's sweats and they're SOOOO comfortable. I need to buy a few pairs at Walmart, because girl sweats suck.
Mr. Caley made it sound like he was going to slave in the kitchen for 10 hours and make us a feast, but he just brought us bread and cheese, so we ate a lot of bread and played Quarters with candy, and listened to Megan's Hannah Montana singing card.
Yaaaay, Mrs. Sims is my freshman date! Lol, not really. It's kind of insane that I'm thinking about freshman date, but I've been thinking about it since like...Thanksgiving?? I just woke up and was like, "I NEED A DATE!" Yeah.
"Congo", by Michael Crichton, is seriously one of the best books I've ever read. Yeah, I know, I say that a lot. Amy is my BFF. THE BUTTON WOMAN!!! There hasn't been any violence since the prologue. Darn.
Aaargh, math was super hard. I hate how Mr. Kovacs REFUSES to help me when I seriously don't know what I'm doing, but he helps Amby all the time??? He'd just finished helping her, and I was like, "Mr. Kovacs, please help," and he just walked away. Aaargh.
I never want to play in jazz band again. Soo tired of "Jumping At Woodside". I had to play my solo like 4 times, and the conga lines were so not fun. No, Drew, be glad you didn't join in.
I hate that darn reader board. I HATE it.
Heh. I got Mr. Campbell some soup and made him some cookies, but he only got 6 because I decided not to use parchment paper, which turned out to be a bad idea, so I made 7 perfect ones out of 19 or 20, and then WILLIAM ATE ONE!!! Aaargh. After I told him NOT TO. I sort of spoiled the "suprise party", but he had to have known before hand. That was sort of a weird period. I talked to Quintin about basketball, had a ribbon fight with DJ, and ate some of Nichelle's cake.
Orchestra people are worse than band geeks. "I have Connor's pants." "Ooooh, why do you have Connor's pants??" "Yeah, why do you have my pants??"
I had to wear a dress today, which turned out to be not so bad. Only some of the compliments were backdoor insults. Thanks, guys.
Nick is racist. At least, his dog is.
I love candy canes.
But not old ones.
I LOVE THESE SWEATS AND BRANDON SALLER!

Yeah, I'm pretty much famous.

Aaaaaaaargh Tim and Tyler got suspended! Now what am I supposed to do in math/science? Actually, I can live without Tyler in math, but science is very boring without Tim. And why is it that Tim got a longer suspension than Tyler??? So confused. I'm calling the Justice League. Although I like Marvel comics better. I would so rather have Spiderman save me than Superman. Or Wonder Woman. I like Batman, too, even though he's DC. Or Daredevil, lol. Or the Flash; he has a cool costume.
I guess Superman is too good for us little people.
Superman: Save you? Pah! I'd rather be off fathering illegitimate children with my longtime love.
Lauren: ....didn't she marry James Marsden?
Superman: Crap.
But enough about him.
I had four tests in one day. It was pretty crazy, but I think I did best on "The Raven" in Pre-AP. Maybe math. I wasn't so hot in French today, and science was all right.
Mr. Campbell is leaving after tomorrow. :( I'm bringing him some soup and a delicious batch of sugar cookies.
Yay, I get to play in the jazz band for all three lunches.
Omg, "If We Were A Movie" is my favorite song, you have NO idea. I really want that CD, no lie.
The elementary tour was good. It was pajama day and all the little kiddies were wearing pajamas and rain boots and looking adorable. Kevin's little brother had a lot of questions. AAARGH, Mr. Faxon made us skip "Jumping at the Woodside", therefore skipping my SOLO!!! XP I worked hard on it, too.
"I'm Like A Lawyer..." is a cool song, too. I might even like it more than "The Take Over, The Breaks Over".
Ben is my hero.
BAM, I got A's on all my "Pride and Prejudice" letters.

Bratz movie?????

Yeah, what??? I watched it last night. Sooo confusing. And weird. And ridiculous. Yeah.
I love how NOT stereotyped it was, though. I mean, the black girl was athletic, popular, and she could dance. White girl is super popular, Asian girl is really smart, and the Hispanic Jewish girl (don't actually know if this is true, but I do know I read something about her being also Jewish when the movie came out, though I can find no evidence of it now :P), since she seems to be representing two minorities, doesn't fit in anywhere. ???? Couldn't she hang out with the loners? It's really hard to believe that in the space of TWO YEARS she has absolutely no friends. And it's also hard to believe that she even remembers the name of a deaf guy she ran into in the halls two years ago.
"He does NOT like me. He never looks me in the eye or talks to me...." Yeah, maybe because you made fun of his disability.
Okay, and Dylan?? That kid is so not deaf. I mean, deaf people usually talk a little louder and it's sometimes hard to understand them. Dylan always talked really quiet and could speak perfectly clearly. I think I can understand the lipreading thing, though. I didn't know anyone could read lips that fast. That's so cool.
Aaargh, Yasmin just got on my nerves. She's really clingy and needy. I bet she didn't make friends because she was convinced her old friends would come running back.
More on Dylan: there were several times when he would react to someone like he'd HEARD them. Like, he's playing piano, and the music teacher starts clapping, and he looks up. I thought you couldn't HEAR.
Omg, it was really mean, but when Sasha and Cloe were fighting, Sasha was all, "You're just jealous because you don't have a dad OR a bank account!" :O That was really mean, but it was also a really good comeback. Like REALLY good.
Not understanding Jade. I mean, geeky clothes are pretty in right now. Those outfits would be considered really cute.
Sasha's parents???? Yeah, wth, they get BACK TOGETHER in the end?? And Sasha's always like, "Just talk to each other," but saying it all disrespectfully. If she ever said that to me, I'd slap her.
Ew, that Cameron guy? Meredith's boyfriend? What does Cloe see in him? Because he might like Cloe and all, and be a "nice guy", and yet he never breaks up with Meredith. He's always like, "Geez, Meredith, you're so cruel," and flirts with Cloe, but then by the next scene he's still with Meredith. HAVE YOU NO SPINE? BREAK UP WITH HER IF YOU HATE HER SO MUCH!! I bet it's because she's easy.
I love Meredith's dog. Soooo cute.
EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW YASMIN'S YOUNGER BROTHER!!! He grosses me out SOOOOOOO much. WHY WAS HE HITTING ON AN 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL?? Soo nasty. I forgot his name. It was probably like Javier or Fabio or something like that. And WHAAAAT, they don't end up together in the end??? What was the point of his being a creepy horny boy WITH AN 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL, if nothing happens???? I think my favorite part was when she walked away from him at the party and his eyes were full of anger/shock/pain.
I'm loving Jade's boyfriend. He was so adorable, except for the karate. "Jade, come check out this radical theorem."
I like how football players were played as stupid, and the only way they will understand math is if Jade substitutes field goals and touchdowns for x and y. "We could make a science experiment without the Bunsen burner. What do you say?" Yeah, that's a really hot pickup line. XP
OMG, someone said of this movie, "This is why the terrorists hate us." LOL!!!!
10 minute long song??? Lame. But I really want the soundtrack for Meredith's song. I love how Meredith was like the poor man's Sharpay. Such a blatant ripoff.
Yeah. It was dumb. In other words, I really loved it, lol.
Yay, I'm making a "2007" playlist showcasing all the crappy things that happened this year. Sure, there were some good things, but it didn't exactly start off too stellar. I'm trying to find a song about death, though, and the only one's I can find are "Zero" and "Hello". "Hello" is a about a little girl", and my dog didn't exactly commit suicide, like in "Zero".
Man, so much homework.

I'm thinking a black bra under a white shirt isn't such a good idea.

That should be a film. "Black Bra Under a White Shirt: Based on a true story".
Aaaaagh, concert last night = not so swell. It made me miss the better days. And Mr. Villiers. I got home last night and was really bummed because I only had him for a year and he was such a good teacher but then he abandoned us to go to China. Which probably makes me selfish, but I was way sad. Not like Mr. Faxon isn't cool and everything. But a lot of the old band people who were REALLY GOOD quit because he left, so numbers are down, and so is talent.
Whoa, old school Evanescence is making me sad, too. So good. Especially "Bring Me To Life" and I have no clue why. I think it had something to do with falling off a building.
But on a happier note....
BAM! FRESHMAN WON "MAKE A CHANGE" AND THE PEP ASSEMBLY! Pwned. I had to be MC, though, which was fun, but the band sounded hot, and I was like, "Curses, I should be playing that trombone part, not Mr. Faxon!" 7th graders won the snowman contest, though.
Aaah, Mr. Campbell is so awful!
"Mr. Campbell, I'm skipping your class today."
"That's good, because I hate it when you're here."
":O"
"I'M JUST KIDDING!"
Man, he's going to be gone after winter break. :P All the people who hated him at the beginning of the year are now begging him to stay and are talking about offing the real teacher.
BAND!!! Love it, pretty much. I want my bass. It's in the garage but I'm too "busy" to look for it", lol.
WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE MATT UNDERWOOD??

Orchestra is lame. Oooooooh.

Yeah, we had a practice with the orchestra yesterday, and it went badly.
Pizza was delicious today.
"Hey, Lauren, that pizza sure looks lonely."
"Well, so do you, but you can't have any."
Yay, I made a complex sentence.
Although John often forgot to put on his pants, he was a very nice boy with a wonderful singing voice.
Stayed after school to help set up for the concert, so I didn't get home until 1:15 or so. Then Paul, Alexis, and I just sat around in the bandroom talking and Mr. Faxon got mad. Apparently I can't play bass because I'm white and I'm not Connor, who's also Mexican. Hm....
I have that "Shut Up" song by Simple Plan stuck in my head.
What would you say if you peeled off roughly half of the skin on your head? Just wondering.
Hm hm hm. I wonder how the Sims are.
It would be weird to make a family modeled after my own...but it would be kind of cool. I would make William a toddler, Nathan a teen, and myself a kid, because then I'd still be able to customize features. Aaargh, don't you hate it when your Sim has like 5 babies that ALL LOOK THE SAME!! Michele and Elodie look exactly alike as toddlers, and the three youngest have the same skin color (dark), while Amelie has light skin. ???
Forget Veronaville.
Mmm, spritz cookies.
Ha. Now William's Sim AND his wife are pregnant. Lol.

Super Secret Pastor Matt post Part 2

Okay, I couldn't think of all the songs I could possibly like, and I didn't want y'all to laugh at me for liking Paul Oakenfold, so I'll just make a list of 10 of my favorite albums.

1. Atreyu, Lead Sails, Paper Anchor
THEIR GUITAR PLAYER IS INSANE!!! In "When Two Become One", he just goes insane. Props to Alex Varkatzas and Brandon Saller for their insane vocal abilities, though I think Brandon Saller is a better singer. I'm going to practice screaming the word "die" for 4 or more measures.
Great Songs: "Doomsday", "Honor", "Becoming the Bull", "When Two Become One", "Can't Happen Here", "Blow", "Lead Sails (And a Paper Anchor)"
Note: Some of you might want the edited version....

2. Family Force 5, Business Up Front, Party In the Back: Diamond Edition
You can say what you want, but they're pretty much amazing. Who knew a bunch of Southern guys could pull off a crunk album? And dance tracks about girls? I'm all over that. Thank you to whoever leaked the music video for "Never Let Me Go".
Great Songs: "Cadillac Phunque", "X-Girlfriend", "Drama Queen", "Earthquake", "Replace Me", "Lose Urself", "Supersonic", "Numb", "I Love You To Death", "Never Let Me Go"

3. Evanescence, Fallen
What happened? They were so good, then Ben Moody left and Amy Lee grew an ego. :P Even so, Amy Lee has one of the most beautiful female voices I have ever heard. Lol, like I know/like that many female artists. Okay, I admit, I do like Celine Dion. Don't go buy The Open Door. Just enjoy this album and pretend like The Open Door never actually happened.
Great Songs: "Bring Me To Life", "My Immortal", "Tourniquet", "Imaginary", "Hello", "Whisper"

4. The Classic Crime, Albatross
I love how this band is from Seattle. Now I have something to be proud of!!! Matt MacDonald is a cool kid. Except for their kinky and overly violent music videos, I love everything about this band, but I don't see how they sound AT ALL like Fall Out Boy.
Great Songs: Every song except for "The Flight of Kings" and "Say the Word"

5. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Don't You Fake It
I kind of hated them at first, because "Face Down" was way overplayed, but then I bought this album and saw why people like them. Ronnie Winter is so good, and the musicianship is topnotch. And some of the members are Christians? That's pretty cool.
Great Songs: Every song but "Cat and Mouse" (though the piano part is nice)

6. Red, End of Silence
X 2006 was looking to be a pretty boring album with disappointing bonus tracks when they ended with the song "Already Over". :) Jasen Rauch has such a beautiful voice. "Pieces" is pretty much my favorite song; that piano and the strings together rock. Now they're suddenly being played on secular radio? That's pretty cool.
Great Songs: "Breathe Into Me", "Already Over", "Pieces", "Wasting Time", "Gave It All Away", "Already Over, Part 2"

7. Fall Out Boy, Take This To Your Grave
This was before their big break and Pete's suicide. Also before Pete started dating Ashlee Simpson and decided he was the best thing ever to walk the planet. Patrick Stump was only 19 when he did this album, and he used to be FOB's DRUMMER!!! :O He was still cute when this album came out. And Joe looked normal. And Andy had gingery hair.
Great Songs: "Dead On Arrival", "Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy", "Homesick At Space Camp", "Sending Post Cards From A Plane Crash", "Chicago Is So Two Years Ago", "Grenade Jumper", "Reinventing the Wheel To Run Myself Over"

8. High School Musical Cast, High School Musical 2
Better music, hotter guys, and actual ACTING??? I'm there. Zac Efron is actually singing! And Ashley Tisdale is pretty talented. Only regret: that Vanessa Anne Hudgens had to be on the CD AT ALL. And that Oleysa Rulin only had one solo.
Great Songs: Every song BUT "Everyday" and "All For One" (MILEY CYRUS!!!)

9. Hairspray Cast, Hairspray Soundtrack
:O Nikki Blonsky is insane. I love that girl. Only I think Tracy Turnblad was the only role she'll ever get based on talent rather than figure. She was working at COLDSTONE when they found her. COLDSTONE!! Zac Efron, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Elijah Kelley also do a fantabulous job. John Travolta in drag makes me puke.
Great Songs: Every song but "I Can Hear the Bells", "You're Timeless To Me", and the last 2 bonus tracks.

10. Ugly Duckling, Taste the Secret
3 white guys get together and try to rap. They release a very humorous CD that isn't a rhythmless trainwreck. A+ for effort. I want a Meatshake. DEFINITELY BETTER THAN "BANG FOR YOUR BUCK". I mean, come on: "Break It Down" is the worst rap song I've ever heard.
Great Songs: Everything but "Goodnight Now". I. HATE. THAT. SONG.

Well, that's it. Hopefully I have inspired you to go out and buy these albums or legally download them so as not to take money away from these starving artists. Yeah, and now I have to go to bed.

Stop getting up for the letdown.

HAHAHAHA I'm back. Finally. I tried to get online Saturday and it wouldn't work for a few days, but my dad fixed it.
:P "Snakecharm" sucked. Seriously, I was still on a high from reading "Hawksong", but it faded pretty fast. I mean, first of all, it's written in Zane's point of view. Danica has suddenly become all wimpy and annoying, and there's this whole thing with falcons and Rei and pregnancy. The ending was way too easy. Now the next book isn't even about Zane and Danica! It's about the stupid falcons. Raaaah.
:O MY MOM HASN'T EVEN READ "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE"!!! After all these years, the truth finally comes out.
"Pride and Prejudice" is very slow. Miss Bingley is way desperate.
Wth, Tyler, I still can't figure out the clue.
Mmm, cookies.
So the Sims are good. Amelie moved out and Nathalie had another baby, only she's becoming an elder in three days, so she'll be old and dying before the baby grows up, and she'll most likely be raised by her older brother and sister. Weird.
Must blog about unicorns, lol.
I love cheeseballs.
I hate boys.
But other than that.
I was going to post something on my top 10 favorite albums, but I guess later since I'm "doing homework". Lol.

So lying is condoned now?

Honestly.
"Snakecharm" is kind of boring so far. Disappointed. Danica's pregnant, though, and she and Zane don't want to give up the kid or something. All this political rubbish.
I read "Perfect" from the "Pretty Little Liars" series, though, and that was pretty good. I'm putting a hold on the first one.
Math quiz today. I couldn't get 2F for like 20 minutes and then I tried a zero in the equation and it WORKED. Mr. Kovacs kept looking at my paper and telling everyone what I got wrong, though. 2x(x + 4). Pretty much, yo.
Pre-AP English is SOOOO LAME. I'm doing good, though? Guess that's cool.
Science is too easy, but we're coming up on some new material. Darn. Better pay attention.
We played "Pictures at an Exhibition" in band. Aagh, it's crazy fun to play, but he took it away. I think we should play it in a concert, though, and wave rubber chickens during "The Ballet of Unhatched Chickens".
Jodie WILL have a boy. BOY! BOY! BOY! BOY!

Texan collies galore!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH let me just say that I have pretty much the best white elephant gift ever. Okay, not the best, not by a long shot. It is, however, a lot better than the ones I thought up at the last minute from years past. This one required effort...but it was free, heh.
I love this hat. My grandma got it for me, and I kind of haven't worn it since then, but I'm wearing it now and it's really comfortable and not ugly.
What, I'm good at science now??
Brendan practically broke my hand.
Too much light! Too much light!!
Yeah. So I'm good at science now??
AND MATH??? It's kind of confusing/challenging, but at least I'm understanding it and learning. Quiz tomorrow.
:P I reread "The Road to Balinor" and I never liked that book to begin with, but I didn't think it could get any worse. Arianna = way annoying. And Chase is super narcissistic. The only characters I like are the "mean" ones, or the "rude" ones: Lori, Tobiano (lol, super obvious name), and Lincoln.
Sims 2 is pretty cool still. Now I'm down to 2 hours. Progress.... The Antoinettes have another baby, and the dad is the only one in prime physical condition. He's pretty ripped.
I'm actually supposed to be doing something else right now. But that's always the best time to go online.
I have to admit, Laurie Halse Anderson is a good writer. Well, duh, seeing as she won like a million awards for "Speak", but I never liked her books before, but now I kind of enjoy them. "Catalyst" is my favorite so far; "Prom" sucked.
I think "climax" is my least favorite word now. I've heard it used sexually too many times now. Oh well. This year is finally coming to a climax (thank you God), as are other events. As much as I love the Christmas, I'd rather it was over and done with.

The future has arrived.

Awwww, "Meet the Robinsons" was SOOOO GOOD. I saw a lot of it coming, but it was really funny and the end was fantabulously creative (I wanted to use an adjective other than "so"). THE FROGS!!!!! It made me cry, tho.
Aaagh, speaking of movies, we had to watch this MESSED UP movie in French today. It was called "My Mother's Castle", and the kid was obsessed with his summer home in the country, and then he met a girl with round calves who made him do weird things.
I think I'm addicted to Sims 2. Yesterday = 5 hours. Today = 3 hours. I'm getting better. I'm dealing only with my French family, but they're having another baby, and they had a second child, who's adorable. I just need to think up another French name. Olivier was my last resort.
Mr. Campbell made me, Tim, Ariel, Dylan, and Jessi stay after school to finish a lab. Ours finally landed in the cup after Mr. Campbell let us sort of cheat and adjust it so it reacted to the curve. It landed in the middle of the cup...and bounced out. At least we got the distance perfect. :P
Do do do do do do. No good books lately. "Pride and Prejudice" is SOOOOO boring. They're just talking about Jane and Mr. Bingley, bla bla bla. EEEEE I GOT "SNAKECHARM" FROM THE LIBRARY! Okay, one thing: Danica's pregnant? I guess she and Zane have been busier than we thought....

Les Antoinette sont amusant.

Yay, I bought "Sims 2" with my hard earned allowance. Yeah, it's about time, I guess, lol. It's pretty sweet. I only have one family, and they're French. Surprise, surprise. The parents have (or had) this really adorable kid, but then it grew up. :P I'm trying to get them to have kids, but William kept watching me play. Aargh, it was like, "Go away, trying to make babies here." It's a lot better than the first one (which I'm probably gonna sell on ebay I guess?), but a lot harderish because you actually have goals. Trying to get my own music on the game, but the cheat is quite complicated and I'd rather not.
Do do do do.
Ha, school got cancelled. Not for my dad, though. It sucks that there's so much flooding, though; Brendan's house got flooded. I HAAATE Washington.
Madison Finn!
OMG I made the best CD ever. I finally found some other songs that would fit on my version of the "Maximum Ride" soundtrack, and it's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.
1. "The Flight", Classic Crime (Because they fly...duh....)
2. "Dive", Disciple (It was talking about diving off cliffs and lacking physical exhaustion, which describes the Flock to a T.)
3. "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Nirvana (Max is such a little rebel)
4. "Calm Before the Storm", Fall Out Boy
5. "Everyone Like Me", Thousand Foot Krutch
6. "Revolution", Dizmas (I don't know, would be really cool during a fight scene...)
7. "The One Thing I Have Left", Hawk Nelson (ditto)
8. "The Only One", Evanescence (Now that it's on there, I have no clue why I chose it.)
9. "Of Wolf and Man", Metallica (For Ari, lol)
10. "Doomsday", Atreyu
11. "Sea of Angels", Plus One (makes more sense than Evanescence, but not much)
12. "Your Guardian Angel", The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (for the scene where Max kisses Fang...aww, so cute.)
Ronnie Winter is my new best friend. When he sees my smile, tears run down his face. Even though that's kind of weird and creepy. Actually, I'm not even sure that's a good thing.

Pride and Prejudice will kill me yet.

Aaaaaargh. I LOATHE Pre-AP English. I was all set to keep reading "The Wind In the Willows", but Mrs. Sims told me I can't read that for my book journal, so now there's no point in reading it, and even if I were to go ahead and do so, I have no motivation. :P So I had to find another "challenging book" (she kept saying, "Read 'The Good Earth', it's the best book you will ever read!"), and I finally got behind annoyed and picked up "Pride and Prejudice". Raaah.
It's been raining for 24 HOURS!! Some of the houses in the neighborhood started flooding, so school closed an hour ago and we got to go home. I didn't think I would get to come home because I thought my mom was working, but she came and picked me up. Phew.
"The 9 Lives of Chloe King" is way lame.
I had a bacon sandwich for lunch, though, so that was pretty cool. Nothing on it, just bacon and white bread. It was pretty fantabulous, and when I got home I kept screaming, "BACON SANDWICH WITH MAYO!!" "Dreamcatcher"-style.
I vow never to watch the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice". Ever.
My mom has watched it like 50 million times.
She's laughing at my pain.

"I'm glad that Bryce Larkin is dead...

...and isn't in my bedroom making out with my new girlfriend."
Ow, my hip hurts. I saw last Monday's episode of "Chuck" last night and it was really good. Bryce is really hot, and I wish he was in more than one episode. Besides the pilot. I hate Anna, though.
More books for the list.
10. "Dairy Queen" by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Summary: 15-year-old D. J. Schwenk joins the high school football team to her father's chagrin.
Lol, I love cows. And I was obsessed with Brian for a long time afterwards. The sequel, "The Off Season", is just as good, if not better.

11. "The Princess Diaries" by Meg Cabot
Summary: Mia Thermopolis finds out her father is a prince, making her a princess, and learns to deal with the changes that follow.
The rest of the series sucks (it's really good up until #4. Or maybe #6, because #5 was pretty good.), but this book cracks me up. I want combat boots.

12. "Home of the Brave" by Katherine Applegate
Summary: Kek, a refugee from Sudan, comes to Minnesota to live with his aunt and cousin and learns growing up isn't always easy.
I just finished this book today, and it's written in poetry format, so it's a pretty quick read, and Kek is hilarious. Oh, and he likes cows.

Yeah, I'm a little obsessed. I read like 4 books today. We skipped church because it snowed again. But then the stupid rain came and had to wash it all away, so there's probably going to be school tomorrow. Aargh, I HATE Washington. HATE it. I'm either going to move somewhere where it doesn't rain or snow or somewhere that snows every day, but doesn't rain. Is that even possible?
Do do do do. Ugh, I reread "Avalon: Circles in the Stream" and it was a painful experience.
I think Family Force 5 counts as Christmas music.

NOM!

moar funny pictures
Book list additions:
9. "24 Girls in 7 Days" by Alex Bradley
Summary: Jack Grammar, a boy who has so far been unlucky in love, is mortified to find that his friends have posted a personal ad on the internet stating that Jack is trying to find a prom date and will date 24 lucky girls within the 7 days until prom.
Lol. Jack would never fondle your butt during a slow dance. Aaaagh, this book is so sweet, it kind of makes me sick whilst boosting my morale? Don't know. But Jack cracks me up and...aw, it's just too adorable, you'll have to read it.
Man, I can't get over "Hawsksong". So unbelievable. It's a good book if you're horny, lol. Not like I am...was.... Zane is a hottie. Apparently it's socially acceptable in serpiente culture do it in public?? Well, not, but PDA is approved? And necessary??? Like the opposite of America. Rei gets on my nerves. Gaar.

I is blowed away.

IT SNOWED TODAY!!! Lol I love snow so much. I wish it would snow all the time. Is it possible for it to snow and not be cold? But, we live in Washington, so the fairytale was short lived and rain washed a lot of it away, but it snows off and on.
Agh, the library was closed, and I had a Madison Finn book there. CURSES.
Omg, I was so blown away by a book I just read that I decided to make an updated version of my favorite books. Eee, so excited.

1. "Prophecy of the Stones" by Flavia Bujor
Summary: Three girls are each given a magical stone and go on an adventure to fulfill an ancient prophecy.
I don't think as highly of this book as I did in sixth grade, and it's not the most polished piece of writing, but Flavia Bujor has a lot of talent and she wrote this book at the age of 12, I have a lot of respect for an author who makes me cry, and this book made me cry. Also, her parents didn't have to publish it for her, and the material in this book is completely original. *cough cough* CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI! *cough cough*

2. "Watership Down" by Richard Adams
Summary: Two rabbits, Hazel and Fiver, flee certain death with several other rabbits in order to find a place they can truly call "home".
I don't really books from an animal's point of view as much as I did when I was like, what, 6, but this book made me empathize with a bunch of rabbits. I really hated Bluebell, though.

3. "Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: confessions of Georgia Nicholson" by Louise Rennison
Summary: Presents the journal of 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson, a British teen who desperately wants a smaller nose, new parents, a nicer cat, and a boyfriend - namely Robbie the Sex God.
You also have to respect an author that makes you laugh, and this book is hilarious, along with the rest of the series. Mr. and Mrs. Next Door are my new best friends.

4. "Bad Kitty" by Michele Jaffe
Summary: While staying at the Venetian hotel, forensics-obsessed Jas stumbles upon a murder mystery and proceeds to solve it with the help of her friends and bratty cousin.
I read it again this summer and it's just as hilarious as it was the first time.

5. "Hawksong" by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Summary: Danica, a girl who can shapeshift into a hawk, and Zane, a boy who can shapeshift into a snake, reluctantly marry in order to restore peace between their peoples.
I read this book for the first time today and it blew me away. And the author was 19 WENT SHE WROTE THIS?? This book is sort of an anti-Irag allegory, but it's SOOOO GOOOD. And there's 4 MORE IN THE SERIES!!! SWEEET!!

6. "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" by J. K. Rowling
Summary: Harry Potter discovers his true destiny when it is revealed that he is actually a wizard.
How can you NOT love this book? My favorite part is when they talk about candy. This book was really that sad, but #5, #6, and #7 made me cry.

7. "P. S. Longer Letter Later" by Paula Danziger and Anne M. Martin
Summary: Tara*Starr and Elizabeth struggle to stay friends through snail mail after Tara's move to Ohio.
I first read this book in 3rd grade, and I don't understand how I could like it so much if Anne M. Martin was one of the authors, but it gets better every time. It's sequel "Snail Mail No More" is just as excellent.

I can't think of anymore. Dang. I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night and remember something. More tomorrow, possibly.