Thank you, Sam Pratt!

For the friend suggestion.
At first I was like, wtf? But you know best, apparently.
Emma and I went "shopping" yesterday.
Meaning we complained about consumerism and America while wandering about the mall, where we went to three stores before getting stuck in Barnes and Noble.
Good times.
She bought me a book, which was nice.
Even though the book ended up being about the futility of the "intelligent design" argument and how Christians can (and should) square their beliefs with evolution, because evolution is right. Even the Bible says so.
Um, right.
They did make a couple of good points, I must admit, about proven fact and theories.
But I find it annoying that people that believe in evolution assume Christians believe what the people back in Darwin's day believed: that Genesis 1:1 meant that God LITERALLY created everything in the beginning, including every species of every animal ever.
Which I think is sort of ignorant. Because it's been proven that speciation and mutation DOES occur, but that doesn't disprove the theory that God made the earth.
And it doesn't prove that all those species come from a common ancestor (a sponge).
And it certainly doesn't mean that all existence exploded into being from nothing.
Which is sort of what the intelligent design theory is. But there's God involved, not...nothing.
So I wish a lot of people, especially my science teachers, would stop saying things like, "Adaptation happens! Mutation happens! Therefore, you're wrong! Oh, and we found fossils!"
And I wish loudmouth Christians who have no idea what they're talking about would stop standing by the old school Genesis 1:1 theory. Because it's not true.
And they certainly don't take everything else in the Bible that literally, such as Revelation.
It was weird to see how the book twisted the parable of the talents into a pro-evolution argument.
Just like the Catholics twisted an unrelated Bible story around their anti birth control argument. I still don't know where I stand on birth control, but I think their argument is absolute CRAP.
So whatever. My God is big enough for speciation and mutation and everything else. He made organisms infinitely complex, so of course he could have made it so animals *gasp* CHANGE OVER TIME!
And of course he's big enough for evolution, and some people use that argument.
But I'm still not inclined to believe we came from monkeys, even though that's easier to swallow than the "fact" that cows and whales are related.
Of course...
Anyway. Enough of that rant.
My dad thinks I might be in a cult.
Or at least dabbling in some kind of forbidden spirituality.
Because there was a test on this awesome personality profile thing I found that compared your personality to the personality you SHOULD have according to your zodiac.
And I already don't believe in that kind of thing. My horoscope is wrong half the time, and if not, why is it that my supposedly "Virgo" older brother is one of the most extraverted people ever? And my "Aquarius" dad one of the least friendly?
So the test showed that I only fit one of five Capricorn requirements. In short, I am the worst excuse for a Capricorn this world has ever seen.
I met a guy yesterday who put a lot of stock in the zodiac, and was like, "Yeah, well, we Libras get along so well."
Only I had to tell him I wasn't a Libra. And he said he never would've pegged me for a Capricorn.
Well, yeah, go figure.
Anyway, I showed my dad, because I found it fascinating...and kind of funny.
But, as usual, he focused on ONE detail rather than the whole picture, the whole picture being that I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE ZODIAC and I'd showed him the test because IT BASICALLY PROVED HOW WRONG IT WAS.
Actually, if it proved anything, it showed what a freak of nature I am.
But my dad decided to focus on the fact that the zodiac itself is "dangerous" and I shouldn't be dabbling in stuff like that.
?????
Ooooooooookay, dad. Thanks once again for listening.
He never actually listens to the stuff I'm telling him, only what he thinks he hears.
Argh. Frustrating.

Black Friday

12:36 PM: Mom spies an ad for $50 peacoats at J. C. Penny.
12:37 PM: Mom looks at the clock and realizes the sale ends in 20 minutes.
12:39 PM: Dad and Lauren hastily put on shoes and jackets.
12:42 PM: Dad starts the car and speeds over to the mall.
12:50 PM: Lauren and Dad sprint from their poorly chosen parking space to the store.
12:53 PM: The two arrive inside.
12:54 PM: The two, both major introverts, argue over who should ask the customer service lady where the coats are.
12:56 PM: Dad finds the coats and starts throwing some at Lauren.
12:58 PM: Lauren finds a cute one and they head to the cashier.
12:59 PM: They take their place in line.
1:01 PM: The cashier lady takes the coat and insists the sale is still going on.
1:02 PM: Cashier lady rings up total: $87.00.
1:03 PM: Dad hyperventilates.

That was the extent of my Friday shopping. We ended up getting the coat, though.
Turns out we were looking in the wrong place. But the one we got was cuter...and more expensive.
Wow. I love my dad.
This is my 1000th post. 3 years and 1 week ago, I started posting.
That's a little disturbing when you think about it.
Hopefully I've come a long ways since then.
*shudder* 7th grade.

Dying for your country did nothing for capitalism

People must really hate Veteran's Day. My mom and I went to check out the "big sales" at the mall, and they weren't all that spectacular.
J.C. Penny had this whole thing of, "Buy 1 item for full price and get the second for a dollar!"
So if I buy a pair of $50 jeans, I can get another pair almost for free.
Too bad $50 is way more than I would ever spend on jeans.
And then the lingerie department was like, "10% off all bras!!"
Great. So a $10 bra becomes $9 and a $40 bra becomes $36.
Ooooh, wonderful savings.
Sierra stole Frederick Minut.
She won't give him back.
Amanda's party was pretty intense. Sarah Palin had to save the world from Madam Narcolepsy, and Barack Obama raised taxes, thereby defeating Tentaclewoman.
I ended up with dalmatian gloves, 4 glass rings, and Lola the Stripper Fairy doll.

You Are Scrabble

You are incredibly clever and witty. You can talk your way out of (and into) situations easily. You are an excellent decision maker. You are good at weighing the options in front of you. You're the type of person who can make something out of nothing. You are very resourceful. You know a lot of things. Most importantly, you know when people are wrong - even when they won't admit it.

What Board Game Are You?

Skippy peanut butter forest

"Invisible" by Pete Hautman is fascinating, but ultimately depressing. I wasn't exactly surprised by the ending, but I was a little surprised by the circumstances. I just knew that a lot of it wasn't real.

What Your Bed Says About You

Outward appearances aren't important to you at all. You think that the over emphasis on looks to be shallow. You try to be an organized person, but you often fall behind. Certain parts of your life tend to fall into chaos. You are not very high maintenance in general, but you are high maintenance about a few things. In relationships, you tend to be quite dominant. You enjoy taking charge. You tend to be a dreamy, head in the clouds type of person. You think in terms of possibilities. You are a total homebody. You are happiest when you're at home.

What Does Your Bed Say About You?

Alexis is moving to Texas. That would be funny, because it rhymes, but that's depressing, too.
We have to devise a plan to make her stay.
She doesn't want to move, because she'll miss high school and Disneyland. Why are her parents making her move at this pivotal time in her life in the first place? Way to be insensitive and selfish, guys.
The sophomores got their schedules last night. I checked with a couple of my friends and I only have one class with each of them, except for Alexis and Kevin. I have three classes with Kevin - what's up with that? And he got put in some random vocational class he did NOT sign up for. "Best Classroom" - sounds thrilling.
I'm pretty excited for school to start, but the school is so big and my classes are so far apart, I'm afraid I'll be late.
My dad was freaking out because my locker wouldn't open. I didn't think it was supposed to, but whatever.
So Wednesday was sort of a momentuous occasion: I got my first pair of skinny jeans, hahahaha.
And they were pretty cheap, so that's cool.
I don't have one of those pyscho-religious uber-strict families that makes their girls wear knee-length skirts and never lets their kids watch PG-13 movies, but my mom was pretty adamant about me not getting skinny jeans.
But then I tried some on and she saw I didn't look like a harlot, so she let me buy them.
Funny thing, too, my dad actually asked if I was going to buy some before I let for the mall, and my mom said he was the one that wouldn't allow skinny jeans in our household.
????
Although I'm a little apprehensive about wearing them because he saw another pair of regular fit jeans that I have and was like, ":O Are THOSE your skinny jeans???"
So if regular fit is too tight, he'll have a conniption when I pull on my skinny jeans.

Grandma's cookies? There is no Grandma!!

Mrs. Freshley's makes the best cakes. Instead of Twinkies, she makes RED VELVET creme cakes, which are like Twinkies, but BETTER. And her Swiss Rolls are tastier, but I don't know quite why.
So many people are gone on the Youth Missions Trip that Sunday School feels empty. Worship team had a whopping three people on it today, including William.
My mom let me drive around the mall parking lot for almost an hour yesterday. It was definitely easier and more fun without my driving instructor breathing down my neck about EVERY LITTLE THING. Oh, and there were no other cars around, so I wasn't scared about stop signs and running into people.
Has anyone else totally zoned out during church? I do it all the time during Sunday School (depending on the speaker), but I look repentant, so no one notices.

I won't catch you when you fall...but I'll help you up afterwards

Okay, the sorting hat quiz on the Official Harry Potter site is sort of ridiculous. "What's your favorite flavor of bean?" And they list all these disgusting flavors, so of COURSE everyone is going to pick chocolate.
I think it's "Mostly A's = Gryffindor", "Mostly B's = Ravenclaw"...that sort of thing.
THEY WON'T TELL ME WHERE I WAS SORTED! They keep sending me to the homepage.
I put my trust in the sorting hat quiz on this page, but they put me in Hufflepuff last time.
I actually took a BUNCH of sorting hat quizzes when I was bored, and out of 15 or so quizzes, the results were:
Ravenclaw: 36%
Gryffindor: 36%
Hufflepuff: 14%
Slytherin: 14%
And I realize that the houses really aren't that much WORSE than Gryffindor.
Ravenclaw is for smarties. Hufflepuff is for loyal friends (and sort of for hacks, but that's okay). And there's nothing wrong with Slytherin, after the whole, "Yay, Draco's a good guy now!", but I'd rather be a lion than a snake, their house colors are ugly (while everyone else's are fairly cool), and being wise, loyal, and brave is more important than being cunning and a good liar.
Although I kind of wish I was a good liar.
GRYFFINDOR!
Aw, now I wish I was back in Hufflepuff.
GRAAAAAAAH, Dean won't let me play on the horn section!! He hasn't had any bone parts TWICE now, and Nathan keeps chastising me like it's MY FAULT. He always does that, and then he tells me to take the initiative and stuff. He knows I'm interested in playing. He apparently just doesn't need (or want) any trombones. But it's a HORN section, not a SAXOPHONE section, and it always ends up being countless saxophones and ONE trumpet. Sooooo lame.
I wish summer small groups met more than once a month.
We were going to go on a road trip...but we didn't.
So we're going to the mall instead!

Vans reminiscent of Oggy

EEEE I HAVE NEW SHOES!!! How positively girly of me to say. Whatever. I love them. They're my first pair of Vans: black with pink puppies. And I bought some jeans, so now I actually have stuff to wear. I don't care if it's stereotypical of women or demeaning to our gender, but I love shopping. It's therapuetic. We also bought stuff for my dad. I picked out a shirt AND tie for him, but I really don't think he liked it. Oh well.
Yeah. That's basically all I did today, besides read "The Magician's Nephew" and ravage a package of White Rabbits. I can't wait to wear my new shoes. And jeans. But there was this amazing belt I saw and now I can't find it. It's the phantom belt. I saw that one girl eyeing it enviously as I admired it the last time I was in there. I bet she took it.
Sims 2 Stuff Pack: Teen Style? Looks amazing. I haven't actually created a teen character yet. Or an elder. I'll add one to my brand new neighborhood. I think I'll create a Harry Potter family, but I'm torn: create him as a teen, or create him married to Ginny already with a family? Time will tell, I guess....

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.