These shoes are $300!!!

You think GIRLS are finicky shoppers?
I went shopping for shirts and ties with my brother - he just bought a suit.
Then he and my mom discussed color and pattern for what seemed like hours.
It seemed like they were on the same wavelength, but if I tried to make a seemingly helpful comment, it was wrong.
So they just ENTJ-ed together while I pouted in a corner.
But that was me overreacting again. Nathan finally decided on a white shirt with two solid-colored ties (mustard yellow and maroon) and my mom bought me ice cream, which was nice since I didn't make her shopping trip any easier.
Then, since there was, for some strange reason, a coffee table in the backseat, we all crammed into the front seat.
It was like riding in a clown car.
Then Nathan and I squabbled over the seatbelt ("I was trying to find it." "You were taking forever!" "YOu were sitting on it!" "Why didn't you ask me to move?" "I didn't know you were sitting on it!!!"). Fun stuff.
Life has been pretty slow and the most excitement I had was laughing at some molested turkeys (long story) and trying to figure out who was eating all the Pop Tarts.
Seriously, it's a mystery.
William just ripped out 2 Pop Tarts like it was no big deal, but he said he didn't eat any the day before. Actually, he said he didn't eat 2 yesterday, which, according to William Logic, probably means he ate one the day before, and then one the next day, but that's not technically eating 2 in one day, which is what he is convinced had me so incensed.
I was just curious. My dad was giggling rather guiltily, but seemed appalled that I would accuse him of taking the dang Pop Tarts.
Aaargh. THEY WERE SUNDAE FLAVORED!!!
I just want to know.
Dad's trying to kill the dog. Not entirely sure why.
Life for her in this heat wave hasn't been fun. Can you imagine a black dog, even a short hair one, finding respite from this heat?
I can't either. And she's having a hard time finding it. Instead of being her chipper self, you can find her lying lazily all over the house: in front of the bathroom, in various doorways, next to the screen door, etc.
And on my bed. A lot of the time. We're sleeping without sheets, which means clothes are mandatory.
Awwwww darn.
Lol. Kidding.
Or am I?

You're so vain...

Parents.
Yes, the only reason I'm alive is so I can make you mad, Dad.
You see, it's my fault the concert in Keyport ended early.
So I sat in the backseat of the car trying to make him laugh, while he explained to me how my jokes weren't funny because they were innacurate.
Yes, I know Michael Jackson wasn't an albino. That's not the POINT.
But I digress.
I'm 58 pages into Les Miserables! Yes! Only 1410 pages to go!
Crap. I'm trying to find this book I saw about the art of making playlists, but it doesn't seem to exist.
My brother and I got into an argument regarding Les Miserables.
After listening to the CD a billion times, I found it rather depressing. The peasants continued to lead hopeless lives where no one gave a crap, and most of the "good guys" die. Marius is getting married and should be the happiest man alive, but he can't help thinking about all the friends he lost and can't celebrate. He literally lost ALL of his friends. Every single one of them DIED!
But Nathan argued that, later in history, the good guys eventually won, so the musical wasn't sad at all. And Javert, one of the "bad guys" died, so not everything was bad.
Hello? Eponine is dead. Gavroche is dead. Javert wrestles with his conscience and has the chance of becoming a good man, but decides he can't live with himself after all the things he's done and KILLS HIMSELF. Thenardier, one of the villians, ends up on top by robbing people. And Valjean, the hero, a changed man who's lived a full life, DIES.
Sure, of old age, with his daughter by his side, but STILL.
It's not the kind of thing I listen to when I want to be HAPPY.
But no, Nathan berated me for not thinking of the historical context and for even being sad at all.
Ugh. He was sort of joking, but of course he thought was right.
As usual.
We constantly butt heads over stuff like that.
I'll be sad about something, and he'll be all, "Well, logically..."
Irritating.
And yet my mom gets it???
Who knows.

Tyler, you were wrong about those guys

RyRy is pretty gross.
Tony's nothing special.
Aaron's nice, though.
Why is he toasting me?
Ewwwww, you were right about Corey, though.
Other non-Tyler related junk:
Another rousing Sims session today. Finally, some Family Sims! They're always the most fun. And I'm thisclose to fulfilling Lilly's Lifetime Want, which I've never done before, so that's pretty thrilling.
WSU in...2 days!
SO PUMPED.
Yeah, I get to see my brother.
And the campus.
But I'm pretty excited about eating out.
And getting a new T-shirt.
Sorry, Nathan.
Do you know those people who accidentally type profanities (for example: missing the r in "T-shirt") and laugh hysterically, then show EVERYONE what they've done. "GUYS! Hey GUYS! Look what I typed! *giggle giggle*"
Um, yes. Hilarious.
Ew, my mom and I watched a really, really terrible remake of "Pride and Prejudice" that took place in Utah.
And I kept remembering all of Justin's Mormon jokes.
And I couldn't help but laugh.
I love how he's an out and proud Mormon...but knows more Mormon jokes than anyone else.
That tends to be the case, though, right?
"She Gets What She Wants" is hysterical. "Mean Girls" was lauded for being witty and "right on", but "She Gets What She Wants" is just as funny, if not funnier, since I hated "Mean Girls".
It's just less subtle. And very Texas.

I whistle a happy tune

Wow. Yesterday was a little crazy.
Nathan came home, so our family is now complete and we'll spend lots of time eating, playing video games, and making up song/dance/rap numbers.
Really, that's whta we do in our free time.
Michael Medved brought up the UN decriminalizing homosexuality, and I had been waiting for him to bring this up, so I called him up and they let me on the air. I then started hyperventilating and thoroughly embarassed myself, but Michael was cool about it.
There was nothing on TV but an episode of "Numbers" that didn't make any sense since we'd missed the first 5 minutes, and didn't make sense later in the episode when they supposedly "solved" the case. The kid from "Crayola Kids" and "The King and I" (animated version of course) played a troubled street kid trying to do the right thing (see title of post). He has not aged well. What happened to his thriving Broadway career? Did they let him go and, unable to find a job at McDonalds, settled for a guest spot on "Numbers"? Or did he give up Broadway himself in order to become "a famous television actor"? Well, if you wanted that, you picked the wrong show.
But I hate the "mathematical" explanations, because they never apply to anything that has happened in the entire episode, so while the geeks are like, "Great, I've solved the case, let's wiggle, homeslice," you're just sitting there, blinking confusedly.
And Charlie played Bernard in "The Santa Clause". EW!!!
And Don, the brother, is barely in it. So when they were talking about his "moving" decision to renew his faith and start going to temple, I was like, "What does that even matter? He's had 5 lines in this episode!"
That one black girl is SO ANNOYING!! They try to make her out to be so "tough" and "hood" and "don't mess with her, yo". The other math-y guy was all, "Ooh, I like it like that," and her winning response was, "Well, don't." OOOOOOOOOH, THAT'S RIGHT!! You sure showed HIM!
How much more racially stereotyped could you get?
Now Luke is frolicking in the snow, only he's doing a much cuter job than Tie. He scoops up tiny mouthfuls and does dainty little prances up to the fence to show you.
He reminds me a little bit of Master Shifu. "Have a dumpling."

Rawr, I'm the Kraken!

Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern.
People are odd.
Or rather, the GHOSTS of people.
That makes me miss Nathan. He's visiting for Thanksgiving!
Nathan: gHoOoOoOoOoOsTs!!!!
And so is Marie!!!
She doesn't yell "gHoOoOoOoOoSts" very often, though.
Pastor Barry is starting in Titus and preached about the qualities of a pastor. He spent a little bit of timing emphasizing the woman's role in the church, and how women should not be pastors.
It's weird that this is such a gray area when it's explicitly stated in the Bible that women should have not have a leadership role in spiritual matters in the church.
Some people walked out. Poor Pastor Barry.
Two random people stayed at our house last night. They were part of a traveling singing group that's going to be in our area for a while and they needed housing. It was kind of weird, but they were nice and weren't even here for long. One was from Tennessee, and the other from Alaska. She can see Russians from her backyard.
That's a Sarah Palin joke.
Which you probably all know.
Ooh, that Sarah Palin.
It's weird seeing people you grew up with mature and become a totally different person (not always in a bad way).
Robert came to our concert on Thursday and his voice has changed and he's at least 2 inches taller than me.
Oh yeah, and he's shaving.
People I used to hang out with all the time in junior high aren't exactly my friends anymore, and some people I used to know aren't even in the same country now.
Was there a massive Change Tornado I was unaware of?
Apparently.
Tie resists change. And she's needy.
And she crawled into bed with me at 6:00 because it was cold.
So she lay in the middle and spread out, forcing me to huddle near the wall.
Good practice for marriage, I guess.
Which would sound perverted if you hadn't read all of the above content.
Would you all like to toast metaphorically with me? Here's an imaginary champagne glass (it's okay even if you don't drink: there are no imaginary drinking laws).
Here's to switching out of history!!

You should be an electrician

You Would Be a Good Spouse 35% of the Time

In general, you have the skills and ability to make a marriage work. However, you're still a bit too selfish to be a good spouse. You almost always put yourself first. If you want to have a good marriage (either someday or right now), you're going to have to give more than you take. Be proactive every day. Work on being a good friend, family member, and partner. With practice, you'll be an excellent spouse.

Would You Be a Good Wife or Husband?

Hahaha I love life.
That explains why both Sierra and I want to die as 80-year-old virgins.
Kay draws amazing pictures. There was the elephant victory cry, and then her panda ate my elephant. It was quite graphic.
Paul was emo. He didn't like our solutions. He even drew a pencil so he wouldn't have to deal with any surprise "get better" hugs.
We took the ASVAB today. It was basically a gigantic military-issued aptitude test. A bunch of officers gave us super-sharp pencils and were super OCD about the perforated edges.
The best part was missing 3 class periods.
Then, when it was all over, I realized I'd just missed my 3 favorite classes of the day and had nothing to look forward to.
Besides French.
Dang it.
Tyler and I bombed that history test. The 10 points we got taken off didn't help.
That class sucks. All my friends have another teacher and talk about how much they LOVE history, where they get to make pyramids out of donuts.
It's not so fun when you have a teacher who loves history but has no idea how to make it interesting, besides allowing girls to bring in cake.
Ugh, I'm not happy with how my dad handled the whole worship team "situation". He called the youth leader and told him how "upset" William and I were and sort of put it all on him, but WE WEREN'T MAD AT HIM!! Our problem was with the kids!!!
And then he ended up being on his side, saying he understood "his point of view".
But he'd totally missed the point.
"He doesn't want to penalize the kids that can't come."
But it seems like he's penalizing the ones that actually do. "Thanks for showing up...we don't need you."
ASVAB results won't come for a few weeks. So today was a waste of time.
I'm going to end up as an electrician.

You Are a Chicken

You are a naturally curious and inquisitive being. You are often poking your nose where it doesn't belong! Collecting nuggets of knowledge is important to you. You enjoy knowing everything you can. You are very independent and strong willed. You don't like to be bossed around, and you do as you please. You are quite determined and able to take on challenges. You will “peck away” at a problem until it's gone.

What Animal Are You?

I'd like a big slice of alone time with a side of hygiene, please.

After a LOOOOONG 6 hour drive in a rental car, we're all back from Pullman.
Not that that's a good thing.
Well, it is nice to be home and I'll be able to shower...
...but I sort of like it better there.
Not only is there no humidity (!!!!), but it's like a little WSU-village, where all the "villagers" worship the cougar.
We dropped Nathan off. He has a really cool dorm room, and no roommate, which is a plus, I guess.
I think it would be cool to have a roommate, though.
Because you wouldn't have to interact with anyone else, but you wouldn't be lonely.
Unless it was a lame roommate.
I miss Tie. :(
My hair is so greasy.
Ferdinand's is so delicious!!
Hurray for ice cream addictions.
Side note: How come whenever I'm stressed, no matter how trivial the reason, the last thing I think to do is pray?
And, of course, that's often the only thing that helps.
I have (had) good friends who in the past would just start praying and it seemed to help.
And it helps me.
But I'm not like them.
So the question is...
...what's wrong with me?

La vie boheme

Last night I watched "Rent" for the first time with my mom and brother, and the ENTIRE time, William kept making snide comments like, "Gross, lesbians," and, "Stupid tranny. I hate Angel."
Then, when my favorite character DIES, he's giggling in the back saying, "I don't really care, I mean, this movie sucks."
And, as he says this, I'm in the back corner bawling my eyes, because this movie is SAD. How is he not sad, too??
Then, when it's over, he says, "That was it? What a dumb ending."
I don't believe this.
"There was no resolution."
??????? What are you TALKING about?? There was resolution!
"There was IMPLIED resolution. IMPLIED resolution."
Okay, I HATE it when he acts like he's SO much smarter than I am, and that his opinion is superior because he's in the "gifted" program.
But WHAT DID HE EXPECT? A "6 months later..." montage of the all the characters living happily ever after??
At the end, all the friends have found each other again, back in their apartment where they still don't have to pay rent. Mimi has been found and saved, Angel's memory will live on, Roger has inspiration, Collins rewired an ATM in memory of his dead lover, Maureen and Joanne are back together, and Mark just finished an awesome film about AIDs in New York.
THAT, my friend, is resolution.
And I guess William didn't really like it because he only watched the last half (meaning he came downstairs halfway through and said, "This sucks," multiple times, but still wouldn't leave), but the characters touched me so deeply (yeah, cliche, I know) that it weirds me out that he didn't feel any of that. Especially when Angel died. I cried for 2 hours after the movie was over. I don't know why, but I kept thinking of him as a real person.
Because he would have been really cool to have as a friend.
I don't know what's sadder; the death of a powerful fictional character, or the fact that I'm crying over the death of a powerful fictional character.

Chivalry isn't dead!!!

Vera Chapman's "The Green Knight" is too fantastic. The convent girl has to seduce Gawain. But he's too chivalrous!!! Yeah!!!
Practiced driving, it was cool.
William bought "Zoo Tycoon", but it's either not working or hard to figure out, judging by his irritable mood.
Found some browned bagles!!!
Wow.
If those are the most exciting things that have happened today, I lead a boring life.

Boxers are the greatest

And I'm not talking about the dog.
Seriously, they're SOOOOO comfortable. I can see why guys wear them. Everyone should wear boxers. And they increase fertility!
Sex Ed has been going pretty well in Health. We're now watching some Pam Stenzel videos. Everyone else kind of hates her, but she's pretty cool. Her dad was a rapist. That sucks. She doesn't know her real ethnicity.
Life has been kind of boring lately.
School won't hurry up and end all ready. We still have 2 MORE WEEKS left. Math is the only class I enjoy now. Besides English. And Health, sometimes.

What the Beach Test Says About You

You like people, but you're careful about who you get close to. Friendship is important to you... so important that you aren't just friends with anyone. You fall in love with ease and confidence. Even if you've had bad experiences in the past, each new love is a reason to start completely over. You are deeply passionate about several things in your life. You're not passionate about much... and the few passions you have are truly obsessions. Your sense of humor is goofy and silly. You are good at making almost anyone laugh.

The Beach Test

We've had Tie 2 weeks and she's pretty amazing. She waited for me until I woke up, and then acted all excited when I finally got out of bed. How nice is that?
"Am I Right or Am I Right?" was a REALLY SAD BOOK. It was funny, sort of obnoxious, and oblivious, but the end was hopeful. It was just so sad.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Freakonomics" are two of my favorite books now. Boo Radley is the bomb. I wish I was Boo Radley. That book was sad, too.
Peter Abrahams is awesome. His Echo Falls series is pretty dang cool.
Those dang sighs and groans.
I think I'm seeing "Kung Fu Panda" with my brothers today. Sweet.

Time for you to be replaced

The more I listen to "No More Sorrow", the more I think it's about President Bush. I swear, half the songs on "Minutes to Midnight" are about President Bush.
We get it. You hate him. Enough with the F-words.
Nathan's home. That makes things interesting.
Weirdly enough, he'll be home till AUGUST.
He did NOT come bearing gifts.
Argh. Why am I always KEY LIME??
Romeo and Juliet really is the most amazing play. I still don't understand why Mercutio breaks down during the Queen Mab speech. Act II is so sappy, though. She's 13, he's 17, they're horny, IT'S NOT LOVE.
And way to be melodramatic and kill yourselves, guys. XP
Dad will let me play in the worship team!!! We're going to talk to Mike...sometime...
I'm just hoping he doesn't want...I don't know, Pete Wentz?
Pete Wentz I am not.
Aw, we went to Farmland and played with the puppies. Piebald doxie = $800.
Dang.

Facepalm!

Heh. William made a pretty hilarious joke last night.
Lauren: [bringing up a topic that had been part of a discussion several nights previous] So once the king made sure Tuptim wasn't a virgin anymore, couldn't she and Lun Tha go for it whenever they wanted?
Mom: No, because she was part of his harem.
Lauren: So?
Mom: Meaning she was constantly being watched, so there was no place for them to be alone.
William: Yeah. [imitates Lun Tha] Okay, I think we're safe. [imitates tour guide] And over here we have a rare species of bird... *eyes widen in horror*
I guess you just had to be there.
So none of our family has been watching "American Idol" lately, because it's so boring, but David Hernandez was the first one voted out!!! That is so wrong! I bet it was because of the whole gay-stripper thing. Chikezie's out, too! For the love of pancakes, WHAT ABOUT KRISTY LEE COOK? SHE'S BEEN IN THE BOTTOM TWO FOR 3 WEEKS IN A ROW!!!
Aaargh.
"Beauty and the Geek" was pretty hilarious. "Hi, I'm Sara, and I've been sexually active with my boyfriend-" "Sexually active? What does that mean?" "Are you serious?" "So it's having sex...actively?" "No, having sex passively. Continue, Sara." "Hi, I'm Sara, and I've been having sex with my boyfriend-" "*covers ears* AAAGH, I need earmuffs!"
One of the guys looks and talks like Adam Sandler.
"Hell's Kitchen" was on, too, and no one could recognize Chef Ramsey with a prosthetic nose on. Then one of the chefs made a meal using raw venison, scallops, caviar, and white chocolate. Chef Ramsey threw up. Pretty sweet. Who doesn't love reality television?

Next stop: Sky High!

I don't think I watched that movie at all last year. :O THAT'S WHY MY YEAR WAS SO BAD!
I think my next project will be Sky High Sims.
How positively freakish.
A lot of stuff has been happening, or not happening. Tests, and quizzes, and math labs, and whatnot.
Nathan came home from college. He'll be here for a week. We want burgers!! I read all his Rolling Stone magazines. Basically it's run by a bunch of "open-minded" pot-smoking music freaks. Kind of boring, and there was an entire article about a transvestite boy who WASN'T EVEN REAL!!!
Pop Tart filling can be kind of grainy, which is disgusting.
Lucky Charms and Cheerios.
Curse you, guitars.
AND Girl Scout cookies.
I really wanted those Girl Scout Cookies.

But over 5 million people have switched to Vonage?

I think I'm an uptalker. No, seriously.
That's not really a bad thing, but if it means I sound like that lady on the Vonage commercial, I might just kill myself. She would always smile in that infuriating way and she had way ugly bangs.
Aaargh. The youngest child in the family should not be able to tattle. Especially if they're over the age of 10. But youngest children of all ages seem to get away with tattling and crocodile tears more often than not.
Oldest children: Grow up to be control-freaks.
Middle children: Grow up to be mopey Eeyore-like adults.
Youngest children: Grow up to be spoiled, dependent adults.
So I'm on the right track.
It's hard having a people-person as a mom when you yourself are semi-antisocial. Right. 6 people were killed on Christmas Eve and I'm bemoaning my mother's wish for me to attend youth group.
I guess I'm in a bad mood today.
I did watch a good movie last night, though. "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks is SOOO amazing. Tom Hanks is one of the coolest actors on the planet. I loved the little Indian guy, and Emerson from "Pushing Daisies" was in it. I don't get how Enriquez and Doris got married, because she didn't even know him, yet she agrees to his marriage proposal. "She's a Trekkie!" So Catherine Zeta-Jones was basically a nympho? So not worth it. You can do better, Victor. I thought, when Gupta started running towards the plane, he was on some sort of suicide mission.
If you've never seen a 70-year-old Indian man running toward a jet, you have not lived.